


more than enough

by cloudsinmycoffee9



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Love, Modern AU, Romance, Sex, valentines day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-01-11 22:15:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 32,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1178586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudsinmycoffee9/pseuds/cloudsinmycoffee9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>modern au for ned and catelyn stark on valentines day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Mmm something smells good.” Ned walked into the kitchen, setting his briefcase down and loosening his tie. It had been a long day at work, and he’d been told things he didn’t want to hear. He was very happy to be home.

“Does it? Good. I’m trying something new tonight.” His wife smiled at him from the stove, where she stood stirring something in a saucepan. Her auburn hair was pulled back into a simple braid; little pieces of it had pulled themselves out, curling in the steam from the stove. An old sweatshirt, loose around the neck, gave a glimpse of her freckled shoulders, and bare feet poked out from under her yoga pants. Ned sized her up in appreciation. Twenty years of marriage, five kids, and working fulltime from home as an event coordinator, but Catelyn did not look much different from the blushing girl he’d wed long ago. Men still turned their heads when she walked in a room. She always turned his, no matter what she wore, but tonight, his attention was drawn to a particular part of her attire. Or rather, her anatomy.

“Cat…”

 “Yes, my love?”

“Do you wear those pants out of the house?”

She glanced back at him. “Why?”

“Well……I’m not sure those qualify as real pants. I can see…everything I want to see.”

She scoffed over her shoulder. “They _are_ real pants. They’re yoga pants.”

“Ah ha.” He leaned up against the island in the kitchen across from where she stood at the stove, folding his arms. “And have your yoga pants ever been to _yoga_?”

He could tell she was rolling her eyes as she nodded without looking at him. “Oh yes, yes, with all my copious amounts of free time, raising five kids and working from home, I have yoga-ed so much I’m now actually teaching classes at the Y.”

"I'd pay to see that. Mat in the front. Isn't there something called a 'downward dog' or...?"

She glared at him, but he could see her lips trying to hold back a smile. "Shove it."

He laughed. “All right. I’m not complaining about the view they provide, I just don’t want to share it with anyone.”

“Hmphh. Well, I’m sure no one looks but you.”

“Oh, I doubt that.”

She smiled down at the stovetop.

He stepped up behind her to put his hands around her waist, and she leaned back to let him kiss her cheek. She bent her head to the side in permission, and his lips traveled down her neck, across her shoulder, moving the fabric of her sweatshirt aside.

“ohhh..” he mumbled against her skin. “The bra with the lace stuff in front.”

She paused. “You can tell which bra it is from the strap?”

“Yeah. It's the green one with the lace stuff. I like how you look in this one.”

He could see her eyebrow raise as she pursed her lips, filing this bit of information away. “Interesting. Maybe I will let you see later.”

“Promises, promises.” He eased the length of his body up behind hers, fitting them snugly together so she could feel how he felt about that idea. “Honey, I’m home,” he grinned against her ear, sliding a hand under her sweatshirt and cupping her breast.

She shivered for a second. “Honey, I’m glad,” her voice came out like a purr and his grip tightened on her in response. “…but if I stop stirring this thing for one second I’m worried it will burn. And we have five kids to feed that would not be so pleased.” She turned and kissed him quickly on the nose in dismissal. “Why don’t you pour us a drink and tell the kids to come down? I got some wine at the store today.” He groaned in acceptance, squeezing her breast quickly before removing his hands.

“Hey!” She swatted at his arm.

“Just checking. Lace one, like I said.”

She chuckled. “Wine. Kids. Go.”


	2. Chapter 2

"But why do _you_ have to go? Why can't someone else go? I feel like you just got back...And I don't think..."

He stopped kissing her sweat-slick back, trying to make himself listen. How she could go from moaning and convulsing in pleasure around him to coherent conversation within minutes was beyond him. He didn't feel ready for conversation at all, still thinking of how she'd looked sliding down his chest inch by inch, hair floating all around her face, eyes locked on his. He could feel the lace on her bra grazing over his stomach, and then on his thighs right before she'd - 

"Are you sure?"

He blinked, realizing she had been talking to him the whole time he was reliving the last hour in bed.

"Am I sure about...?"

She rolled over to look him in the eye. "Have you heard anything I've said in the last five minutes?"

"No, yeah, I've been listening. I've been listening a lot."

She drew a deep breath before piecing her words together. "Eddard. Stark. Why. Is it so hard. To have. A conversation. With your wife. Without clothes on?"

He hesitated, trying to gauge how annoyed she was before he responded. "At the moment, it's not _exactly_ hard, but if you just lay there a few moments longer...and push the blankets down just a bit..." he raised his eyebrows in question.

Her eyes went wide as she understood his joke, and he tried to keep from staring at her breasts as they jiggled under her laughter. "God - NED!"

He let himself chuckle along with her. She was so beautiful when she laughed. To be honest, they hadn't made love in a few weeks, between his travel and how busy they were with all the children...he felt it could be forgiven if he wanted to keep the conversation to a minimum and allow for more of a meeting of the minds. Or of the bodies, as luck would have it. Especially if he had to go away again for two weeks. He forgot what he had even said to make her shoulders shake like that, to make her eyes meet his with so much affection. He wished he could say something so funny again.

"Fine. Funny. Ha. But I need you to focus right now. If you're going to leave, you'll miss Sansa's recital. You need to tell her as soon as possible."

He grunted. "I missed the last one, too, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did."

"I'm terrible."

" _You_ aren't terrible. Your _job_ is terrible. Your level of commitment to it is terrible."

He sighed into her neck. "Can we talk about this later?"

"I"m sure we will. But you have to go and tell her. And apologize."

"Right now?!"

"Yes, right now! You're leaving tomorrow afternoon, and they'll be at school. It's only ten o'clock."

"That's it? Really? When did we..."

She smirked. "I had a headache, remember? We came up almost directly after dinner." She reached up a hand to his beard and kissed him softly.

"She will forgive you, Ned. Just say the right thing. And don't do it again. They remember everything, you know."

"Mmm." He kissed her. "And you. Will you forgive me? I know I've been traveling so much, I just - "

"Don't I always forgive you, Ned?" She smiled sweetly, but he thought he might see sadness in her eyes. "Now go and talk to Sansa. Hurry back."

She folded herself into the blankets and settled into her pillow. He looked at her intently, and then moved to grab some clothes to wear before talking to his daughter. 


	3. Chapter 3

"Really, Dad? You missed the last one, too!" Sansa pulled up the covers under her arms, glaring yet pleading with her father.

Ned drew a hand over his face. It was hard to look at his daughter's eyes and see the disappointment there.

 _  
_"Sansa, believe me, I've asked a few times already. They want me to go, they won't send anyone else. I'll be back soon, and I promise I won't miss your next recital."

"You said that last time." She crossed her arms angrily, looking out the window.

"Sansa...I am sorry. I am _sorry_. Please, Sansa, forgive me?"

Moments passed. He could see the glare of unshed tears gathering over her eyes, so blue like Catelyn's.

"When will you be back then?" she finally offered as a peace treaty.

He sighed. "The 15th."

"You're missing Valentine's Day, too? Mom's gotta be upset." 

"Wait - what? When's Valentine's Day?"

"Oh my God, Dad. You're the _worst_. Clueless. Super clueless. Really." Sansa flung herself back on the pillow and shook her head at him.

"Hey, now. What's so wrong with your old man?"

"Dad - you and mom have been married twenty years this year. Twenty. And Valentine's Day is literally the same exact day every year. February 14th. Here, do you have your phone? Give me your phone, I'll put it in your calendar right now. Save you some grief."

Ned fished in his work pants and found his phone, handing it over obligingly. "Well, if it's any consolation, your mom knows I'll be gone and she didn't seem the least bit upset."

Sansa eyed him over his phone as she set the reminder on the calendar function. "Oh, yeah. Suuuure," she said, with meaning.

"Really! I just told her the dates I'd be gone, and she didn't say anything."

"Well, of course she didn't say anything. She knows you don't care about that kind of stuff."

Ned stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"You're just not romantic is all. Like Mom is."

"Mom is romantic?"

Sansa looked at him in shock. "Uh, yeah. Mom's romantic."

"Hmm. Really. Yeah, I guess you're right."

Sansa stared at him for a hard minute, as if willing him to understand. She gave up. "Oh, geez, Dad. I need to go to sleep, okay?"

Ned shook himself back into awareness. He leaned over and kissed Sansa's forehead. "Yes, love. You'll tape the performance for me, right? I am so sorry to miss it. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, Dad. Night." She flipped onto her side, away from him, and resolutely closed her eyes.

Ned stroked her back for a few moments, feeling her grow relaxed under his touch. Sixteen years old, but ready to take on the world. _God, she is pretty,_ he thought. _I'll need to do something to get ready about that._

 


	4. Chapter 4

"Cat?" he whispered, stripping off his shirt and pants for the second time that night. "I talked to Sansa." He slipped into their bed as quietly as he could, in case she was asleep. 

"Mmm?" she responded, sounding barely conscious. But she reached a hand back for him, urging him closer to fit his angles into the spaces her body left on the bed. "Hi, baby," she said, drawing his hand up to her lips for a kiss, before settling it peacefully on her chest over the simple tank top she was wearing.

He snuggled in to her warmth, breathing in the smell of her hair, her skin. She burrowed back, breathing deep. Her heartbeat was slow under his hand.

"Catelyn," he whispered into her hair. "Hey, about me being gone?"

"Yeah, I miss you already."

He smiled. "I'll miss you more. But, Cat? Can I ask you something?"

She was already asleep.

 

 

He woke to the smell of coffee and shampoo. A soft hand pressed on his chest and he felt his wife sit next to him on the bed. "Good morning, my love."

This is the best way to wake up, he thought, as she set a cup of coffee down on his nightstand and leaned over to kiss him. She'd already showered and dressed for the day. "You smell good."

"Thank you. Hey, Ned, have I ever told you how much I love you? How handsome you are? How happy I am to be your wife?" She grinned at him.

".....what do you want?" he asked suspiciously.

"What? Nothing! I just want to lay here with you all day and make love and never get dressed. But, you see, we have these things called kids, and I was wondering if you could drop them off at school for me? Since you don't have to leave until this afternoon and all..."

 He grabbed her wrist and pulled her on top of him. "I stopped listening after 'never get dressed.' I am happy to oblige, my lady. Commence Operation Take Off Your Clothes."

"Ne-ed, listen," she whined, struggling to sit up. "Robb had early weights class this morning, so he took the car. Can you just drop off Sansa and Arya? That would make my life easier. I'll swing by the dry cleaners to get your shirts for your trip, okay? We'll meet back here after I drop off Bran and Rickon."

He held on to both her arms and twisted her underneath him towards the middle of the bed, beginning an assault on her neck with his mouth. "Lay here. Make love. No clothes."

"Pour coffee. On head. Burn victim." 

He sighed, pulling his head up to look at her and releasing her arms. "Why did we have all these kids? They get in the way of the fun stuff."

"Ironically, your particular version of the fun stuff is what led to all the children in the first place, mister." She squeezed a handful of his backside affectionately. "Come on, we need to get you in the shower. You smell like sex."

He rolled off her and onto his feet, scratching his chest and stretching, watching her get up and move about the room. "That's your fault."

" _My_ fault? I was just laying there, minding my own business..." she smiled.

He raised an eyebrow. "That's not _exactly_ how I remember it, but it would have been enough for me. Ooof!" She threw a towel at his head.

"Shower. If you're lucky, I'll scrub your back."

"Really?!"

"No, I need to make sandwiches. Go!"

 

He started the car as his daughters threw their backpacks in the back seat and climbed in. "Ready, girls?"

"mmm," they both answered, still too sleepy to form real sentences.

"Arya, did you brush your hair this morning?" he asked, making eye contact with the glare she shot back at him in the rear view mirror and began wrangling her hair into a ponytail. He chuckled. "All right then."

He backed out of the driveway, waving to Bran and Rickon as they hopped into the back of Catelyn's car, and then he started their drive to Northern Heights Upper School, where his three oldest children and his nephew, Jon, attended class. The girls were silent, except for the clicking of Sansa's nails as she began the teenage ritual of morning text messages.

"Hey, Sansa...I hope you're not still mad at your old dad, are you?" he asked. She looked up briefly.

"No, it's fine. I understand."

"Because I really am sorry. I wish I could get out of it, I just can't."

"Get out of what?" Arya piped up.

"Dad's missing my recital again because of his trip. _And_  he's missing Valentine's Day."

"Is Mom mad?"

"No, she's not," he answered defensively, but caught the sisters raising an eyebrow at each other in the backseat.

 "Sure, Dad," said Arya.

He sighed. "Well, she didn't say anything to me about it."

"What is there to say? You can't cancel your trip. You wouldn't even if you could. Besides, you haven't been that great at Valentine's Day even when you are here, so I guess it doesn't make that much of a difference," Sansa supplied.

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

"Really. What did you do last year for Valentine's Day? Or your anniversary? Pick one and tell us," she challenged.

Ned thought for a moment. "We....went out to dinner. Both times."

Arya looked at Sansa. "That was dumb. He could have guessed that. It's like asking "what song did I sing you on your birthday?""

"True." Sansa chewed her lip. "Who made the reservations?"

"....your mother."

"Did you get her any presents? A card?"

"Well, we had said no presents for our anniversary, because we needed the new water heater. And for Valentine's Day...I think she said she didn't want anything."

Sansa looked incredulous. "And you believed her?"

"Well, yes."

"So, not even a card?"

"No, I'm sure I grabbed one. I think."

"Flowers?"

"Your mom doesn't care about that kind of stuff."

"You're joking..."

"Besides, we've been married forever. She knows how I feel about her - " 

"Dad, that's like, totally not the point," said Sansa.

"- and she doesn't need some gross chocolates in a heart-shaped box from the drugstore, or some expensive flowers that are just going to die, or a cheesy card with little cartoon bears in love to know that."

Arya was grinning at him in the rearview mirror. "Dad, you're like, really hopeless sometimes."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, kid. Since when did you two become experts on love and marriage?"

"Whatever," said Sansa. "I just know that when I grow up and get married, my husband better come up with _something_ on Valentine's Day."

"I bet you're hoping someone comes up with something for you _this_ Valentine's Day..." Arya teased.

"No, I _don't_ ," Sansa replied.

"Oh, I think you _do_..."

"Arya, shut...UP," Sansa bit through her teeth.

Ned looked at them through the mirror. "What's this?"

"Nothing, Dad! Arya's just being stupid." Sansa smiled sweetly at him and then glared at her sister.

"No, I'm not. Everyone at school knows." Arya's eyes gleamed with mischief as they met Ned's in the reflection. "His name is - " she began in a mock stage whisper.

"ARYA! I will throw you from the car!" Sansa shouted. Ned laughed.

"Come on, Sansa, just tell me his name. And his GPA. And his hobbies. And where he lives and his Social Security number. And his intentions with my daughter."

Arya giggled as Sansa rolled her eyes and sighed. "Dad. Really."

"Or perhaps I'll just drop you off, and Arya and I can go out to breakfast really quick and I can hear the details from her?"

"YES! I hate my first period. Home Ec. Boring."

"Ugh. Fine. His name is Jeremy. He goes to Westerosi High....we met at a football game a few weeks ago...we've been texting, we went to the movies," Ned's eyebrows shot up. "And he's smart and plays lacrosse like Robb. He said he'd come to my recital, so I _thought_ you would meet there. He "intends" to take me to the dance on Valentine's Day. Jeyne is going with his friend, so. It's like a double date kind of thing. Or whatever. There, fine, I told you."

"I see. Does your mother know about all this?"

"Yes."

"I see. Well. Two things, since I won't be here."

"What?"

"I will need pictures of whatever dress you think you are wearing to this dance, and I get to approve, and then I want visual confirmation that you wear exactly that to the dance."

"DAD!"

"And you tell this Jerry - "

"Jeremy."

" - that if anything, and I mean _anything_ , happens to you...I have a shotgun and a shovel, and no one would miss him."

Sansa's jaw dropped. Arya cackled. "Hahaha. Classic Dad."

 

"Ned! You don't even have a shotgun!" Catelyn laughed as he told her about his exchange with Sansa, piling the groceries and dry cleaning into the kitchen and dining room. He followed her around as she put things away.

"Well, he doesn't have to know that, if Sansa ever gets around to relaying the message."

"You know, I've met him. You don't need to be so worried. Sansa'a a good girl. And he seemed really sweet."

Ned snorted. "As a former teenage male, I am not inclined to believe any one of them is sweet, or full of only virtuous thoughts and intentions towards someone as beautiful as our daughter."

"Is that true?"

"I know exactly what kind of thoughts I was having towards her mother when she was sixteen, so..."

Catelyn laughed, letting him back her up against the kitchen island. "Really? Even when I was dating your scoundrel brother?" Her arms came up around his neck and he looked down at her.

"Even when Brandon was busy being an asshole to you, yes. Especially then. From the moment I met you, Cat, I promise I have never had virtuous thoughts."

"I see. And could you...describe any of these thoughts? Just so I might know."

"I think I would rather show you."

"I bet." He closed his eyes as her fingers found his hair and scratched at his scalp. His lips found her cheek and neck briefly.

She smiled as he guided his hands to rest on her waist. "I wouldn't want to do the heartache of a relationship with Brandon again, but at the very least, it led me to you," she whispered.

"Worth it?" he asked.

"Very much so. Turns out it was very, very worth it."

"Well. That is very, very good news."

 

Ned's brother Brandon had swooped upon Catelyn, a transfer to their high school her freshman year. They had dated for two years, even after Brandon graduated high school and was at the community college and working for his father. She'd been swept up in the excitement of dating someone older, popular, and charming in her eyes. But Brandon had never been faithful. When Catelyn finally realized how bad it had become and broken up with Brandon, Ned, still at the high school and having grown close to Catelyn, had stepped in as a friend to comfort her, glad to finally stop having to lie about his brother's behavior.

He'd always felt what he knew was more than he should towards Catelyn, and as they started hanging out more and more, it grew deeper and he knew she felt it, too. They'd married the summer she finished high school, and started their little family in a tiny one-bedroom apartment as Ned graduated college and settled into his career. It had been hard in the beginning, and certainly awkward at any Stark family gathering for the first few years, but he knew he would do it all over again a million times to be able to live the rest of his days with Catelyn.

 

"Will you kiss me, Ned?" She cocked her head to the side and looked up at him with a smile that made his breath catch in his throat.

"You're very beautiful. Do you know that?"

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "Ned. Kiss me."

He leaned in and she closed her eyes, then yelped in surprise as his hands came under her arms and lifted her to sit on the island. He came to stand between her legs, stretching his arms around her, cupping her shoulder blades in his palms and then pressing his hands down her back so that her chest leaned forward against his. He felt her leg come around around his hip and heard her hum at the contact.

"God, you feel good."

"Ned! Your mouth, on mine, lets go."

He rocked his hips further into hers, watching her eyelids get heavier with want.

"Cat."

"Yes?"

"Thank you for wearing the yoga pants again today."

She sighed in frustration, and then leaned her forehead against his shoulder. "Ned?"

"Mmm?" He lifted her hair up and down in his hand, the other hand pulled tightly around her back.

"When was the last time we were home alone without any kids?"

He paused. "I couldn't say."

"And when do you need to drive to the airport?"

"I have about two hours."

"And how long will you be gone?"

"Robert said two weeks."

"And if a train leaves Albuquerque going 70 miles an hour, uphill, headed west," she leaned back from his chest, "how long until you do the math and take your wife to bed?"

He looked into her eyes, and before she could say anything else, hooked his arms under her shoulders and knees and carried her down the hall.

"Now," he said. "We're going now."


	5. Chapter 5

She smiled when her phone rang, knowing that it had to be him. “There you are! I’ve been waiting for your call all day.”

He chuckled into the receiver. “I’m sorry, honey. These meetings are just back to back right now, and then we had to get dinner, and they wanted to go for drinks. I texted you. Did you get it?”

That made her laugh. Ned had finally broken down and let Catelyn and the kids pick out a smartphone for him, upgrading from the old cell phone he had had for years. The kids had been trying to teach him how to text and send pictures for the last few weeks, and he was just now getting the hang of it. As savvy as her husband was with business and finance, technology was not his close friend. “Why wouldn’t I just call you if I wanted to talk to you?” he’d asked. “Sometimes it’s nice to just send a quick message, or I can’t pick up the phone for some reason but want to tell you something. You’ll get used to it, I promise,” she had tried to reassure him. He had looked doubtful, but she thought he was growing more accustomed to the idea.

She twirled her glass of wine in her hand. “Yeah, I know. I texted you back, remember? That probably means I got it. It’s nice to get little messages during the day, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was nice. And this little picture of your face pops up when you send me a message. The kids must have done that somehow. I liked that. What are you all doing right now?”

“The kids are either asleep or doing homework. I was _not_ doing laundry, or cleaning the kitchen, or any of the other things I should be doing. Instead I decided to have a glass of wine, and wait for your call, babe.” Catelyn wandered over to the comfy sitting chair in the corner of their bedroom, curling into it. “How were all those meetings, then? Are you any closer to an agreement? Like, wrap things up tomorrow and you can fly home closer?”

Ned sighed. “Unfortunately not, which is frustrating. How are the kids? Is this week any less stressful?” He'd been gone ten days, and not only missed Sansa's recital, but a big lacrosse win for Robb. Rickon had been sent to the principal's office for hiding in a tree during recess and not going to class when the bell rang. Bran had won the geography bee. And Sansa had told Catelyn there were rumors that Arya had a crush on some guy named Gendry. It had been an eventful week, on top of the normal chaos that was raising five children, and Catelyn had desperately wished he was there to help her manage it. This was his longest trip away from home in a long time, but there was nothing she could do about it. She tried to keep her voice light as she spoke.

"Oh, we’re fine. More school, more sports, etc. I’ve been working on the school auction stuff all day. Everyone had some sort of practice after school today. We got takeout for dinner. I asked Nan to help drive them around to a few things the next couple of days. So that will be nice to have some help."

"Okay. That sounds good. Any major injuries? New relationships? Body piercings? What can I expect upon my return?"

She chuckled into the receiver. "We're all safe and sound. Just missing you."

"I miss you, too, Cat."

"Mmm. Good." She sighed, wrapping herself into a blanket. “Is your hotel decent?”

“Yeah, I think so. I even went and used the gym.”

“Did you? I’m impressed.”

“Well, you know. I’m married to this hot younger woman and I’m just trying to keep in shape. Keep her interested.”

Catelyn laughed. “I don’t know if two years is a whole lot of ‘younger.’ But I’ll take ‘hot.’”

“You _are_ hot.”

“Stop.”

“You don’t even know how good you look. That makes it even better.”

“Flatterer.”

His chuckle made her bite her lip. She could almost feel his breath in her ear.

“You know what _is_ nice about a hotel?”

“What?” she asked.

“I can take all the blankets and stuff off the bed. Just me and a sheet and the cool night air. All a man needs.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep.”

“That’s alllll you need?”

“Indeed.”

“Hmph. Well, then I’m sure the living room couch will be happy to accommodate you when you return home, Mr. Stark.”

“Ha! No! I take it back. I need my hot wife wrapped around me.”

“Even if she requires blankets?”

“Even if.”

There was a comfortable silence for a moment. She smiled, knowing he was smiling, too. But she glanced over at their bed, all the blankets piled in her side, a big space where her husband usually slept. She suddenly felt very, very tired and lonely. “Our bed always seems too big when you’re gone so long, Ned.”

He didn’t answer right away.

“Ned?”

“I’m sorry, Cat.”

He did sound sorry. She could picture how his face would look as he said so, the way he would run his hand over his beard, his brow furrowed in concern. “I know, baby. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel guilty.”

"It’s fine.” He paused. “How many more days?"

"One less than yesterday. More than tomorrow. Still too many."

"Always too many."

“Well…I’ll let you get your rest. Call me tomorrow?”

“Okay. I love you. Tell the kids I say hi and they better be good for you.”

“Ha. Right. Love you, too.”


	6. Chapter 6

She heard the signal of her phone, indicating a text message. She reached for it, puzzled, soap bubbles dripping from her elbow, accented in the light of the candles. _The kids are all home…who could be…_  

She looked at the sender.

“Ned!” her surprise cut through the steam of her bath. Her husband was fairly new at text messaging. She felt her face tingle with a smile as she read his words.

-Hey I am thinking about you what are you doing i miss ed you a lot today

 _Evidently he has not found the punctuation on the keyboard,_ she thought.

-Hi. I’m in the bathtub. Day was okay. Counting the hours until you are home with me.

-Bathtub

-Yes…..?

-Soapy and wet

-yes….?!

She smiled freely at that.

-Prove it picture

Catelyn threw her head back and laughed. _Ned Stark. You’ve been gone too long and are getting bold._ She chewed her lip and thought for a moment, then pointed the phone camera and sent a shot.

Her phone rang immediately.

“You’re a terrible wife.”

She laughed harder. “Did you really think I would send you something more?” she asked, cradling the phone to her shoulder and reaching for her glass of wine.

“A man can dream.”

“I love you, darling, but with your luck, I fear the picture would suddenly be sent to every client nationwide.”

“Out of all the things to take a picture of that I miss about you right now, your damn toes were not ranking on the top ten list. Not even top twenty.”

“You have a top twenty list?!”

“Sure. Number one – “

“If you say something besides my face, so help me, God – “

“How did you know? Actually, probably your eyes. Then your mouth. I like your neck. I love your hair. I’d probably put your mouth twice.”

She shivered in pleasure at his appreciation. “Hmm…well if you’re lucky and I feel like it tomorrow, I’ll send you a pic of me and the kids.”

“Now. No kids. You in bath.”

“God you’re like a caveman sometimes. Absolutely not. You’d accidentally post it on the internet.”

“I would be super careful!”

“Ned! After everything we’ve ever said to the kids about technology and being safe!”

“………This is different.”

She chuckled. “Well, afraid you must see it in person or not at all.”

He didn’t answer.

“Ned?” she shifted her grip as she asked again, wondering if the call had dropped.

She could hear him clear his throat. “Would you…would you tell me more about what it is like in person?”

Catelyn could feel a heated blush creep over her.

“Um…” she giggled.

“Yes?”

“I…” She sat for a minute, mouth chewing over what to say, how to give her husband what he wanted. She could admit she was turned on. But she wasn’t sure...she tested out some words in her mind.

“Ned?”

“Yeah?”

“…I don’t know if I can do that.” Her voice came out as a squeak, but he chuckled. “It’s fine when you’re here, when we’re in bed, but for some reason…”

“It’s okay. It’s okay, I should have –“

“But Ned! But - I’m definitely thinking about it,” she offered.

There was a long silence before he spoke. “I’m thinking about it, too,” he said.

“I’m thinking about lots of things.” Her cheeks felt hot when she brought her hand up to them. She heard a hitch in Ned’s breath at the sound of the water dripping off her body as she moved. “God, I miss you.”

“Me, too.”

The silence stretched between them, thick with tension.

“Remember when we used to talk on the phone? In high school?” she asked abruptly.

“Huh? I mean, yeah. I remember.”

“Even when I was dating Brandon…when I would call your house, and he wouldn’t be there, sometimes I’d make you stay on the phone with me.”

He laughed. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

“It was like a personal challenge – I always wanted to see how long I could keep you on the phone, force you talk to me. I wanted to get to know you and I wanted you to like me. “

“Well, that worked out, didn’t it?”

“And then when we finally started dating, and we would talk on the phone at night…I felt like you talked more easily on the phone than in person.”

“That’s because you have no idea the effect you have on me in person. Then and now,” he answered. 

She smiled. “You don’t make missing you any easier when you say things like that.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”

She sighed. “How many more days?”


	7. Chapter 7

“You’re joking.” 

“What? I think it’s genius.”

“Robert…we’ve been gone almost _two weeks._ I don’t want to go play golf with some strangers, who have already agreed to our deal, by the way. I want to go home.”

“You wouldn’t if you were married to Cersei.”

“Precisely. I am married to Catelyn, and I’d very much like to get back to her. Geez, Rob, it’s Valentine’s Day tomorrow!”

“Exactly. I thought I was doing us both a favor! Skip the holiday entirely by being away, and then you can’t get blamed for anything.”

Ned stared at him, mouth open.

Robert continued. “What? C’mon, we’ve worked hard for two weeks. We can golf, have a few beers at the club, flirt with the cocktail waitresses. Eh? You know all the women will be raring to go on account of Valentine’s Day.”

“Yes, women like my wife, who has basically been a single mom for the last two weeks and certainly deserves better than that. God, Robert. I thought I was clueless.”

“I’m not clueless, this is exactly what I planned.”

“Don’t you even want to go home to see your kids? A million things could happen in two weeks."

Robert shrugged, slurping loudly at the glass in his hand, and then belching. “They couldn’t care if I lived or died, I don’t think, as long as the money’s there. Plus Jamie’s there, helping Cersei out. I’m sure they’re fine.”

Ned paced the floor of his hotel room, where Robert had come to share the good news that they had sealed the deal with their client, and reveal his fun “surprise” for the next day. He dragged his hands over his face and then through his hair, lacing his fingers behind his head and looking at his friend in frustration. Robert had clearly already had a cocktail or two, and was holding another as he sat in the chair by the small hotel table, watching Ned, seemingly bewildered by Ned's frustration.

 _Unbelievable_ , he thought. _Robert is an actual idiot._

At the same time, some small part of him felt sorry for his friend. He knew the marriage between Robert and Cersei wasn’t really a happy one. Cersei was certainly beautiful, but there was a calculating coldness to her that made Ned shudder. He could not imagine being married to anyone like that. Being married to Catelyn was like...he couldn't define it, really. It was like finding parts of himself he didn't know were missing until she helped fill them. Being away from her was a physical pain at this point. He wouldn't trade what they had for anything, and it pained him to think that his best friend did not know that kind of love in his own marriage. Robert certainly didn’t seem to help matters, though. For not the first time, Ned wondered what had happened to the man he had known...Robert was but a drunken, shameless shell of that man now. He sighed.

“Well, then,” Robert began. “Shall we go to the hotel bar? The girl behind the counter looks – “

“Like she’s barely 20, Robert.”

“Well, she’s at least 21, right? To work in a bar? Come on. I’ll buy you a drink and –“

“No.”

“What? Come on, Ned.”

“No.” Ned moved quickly over to the closet, swinging out his suitcase and grabbing at the things that were hanging there. “I’m sorry, Robert. I’m going home.”

“What? You’ll never get a flight.”

“I’ll rent a car.” Ned moved to grab his things from the bathroom, throwing them into his suitcase.

“That’s an even worse idea. At least eleven hours drive.”

“Robert,” Ned said sharply, zipping up the case turning around to face his friend. “I want to go _home_. I will see you Monday.”

Robert shook his head. “Fine, fine. Go on home then, to the wife and kids. You don’t know what you’re missing.”

Ned sighed, his hand on the door and his back to his friend. “Actually, Robert, I know exactly what I’m missing. So I’m headed there now.” He walked out.


	8. Chapter 8

She didn’t open her eyes or turn her head, although the opening of the door had woken her up. “It’s too early. Go watch cartoons. I love you,” she called over her shoulder without stirring. She inherently knew it was still the wee hours of the morning, and was determined that her children not disturb it. She rarely had the chance to sleep in.

Despite her proclamation, she heard footsteps crossing the threshold and stepping across to her bedside. All of a sudden, she stiffened in realization – all the kids were gone. Who was this –

“NED!” she exclaimed, recognizing his shape as he slid under the covers and in next to her. “What are you doing here?”

“I live here. This is my bed,” he replied. His arms reached for her, and she found her hands flying to his face, checking if this was a dream or not.

“But, Ned, I thought you were coming home in a few – “

“I wanted to be home now. I got an earlier flight.”

“Ned,” she softened, over the shock of his arrival and now very glad he was here. “Baby, did you take a red eye?” She leaned in and kissed his face, feeling his grip tighten on her, her lower body leaning towards his automatically.

“Yeah. I thought about sleeping on the couch, so I wouldn’t scare you. But once I got in the door, I just wanted to be here.”

“I’m so glad you did.” Wide awake now, Catelyn continued pressing kisses on his face, cradling it in her hands. “Oh, I’m so happy you’re home.”

“Me, too.”

She smoothed her fingers over his eyebrows, through his beard, settling on his shoulders. He was home.  Solid, warm, and almost asleep. But next to her.

“You must be tired.”

“Mmm. To be honest, I was feeling a little sick, I’m so tired. But much…better…now….”

She laughed quietly, and turned her body in his arms, pressing the length of her back into his chest, feeling his arms rest around her, even as he was sinking into sleep already.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Ned,” she said softly, almost to herself, nestling in his embrace.

“Love you, too,” she heard him murmur into her hair.

They slept.

 

*           *               *              *            *

 

It took effort to open his eyes, but he felt rewarded when he did. Across from him, on her pillow, smiling from ear to ear, lay his beautiful wife.

“Hi.”

“Hi…” he answered, groggy from jet lag and a lack of sleep. _Fucking worth it,_ he thought, looking at her face. They stared at each other. Her happiness felt tangible.

He reached out a hand to touch her cheek briefly, and then rolled onto his back to yawn and stretch. He looked down at himself and realized he must have been so tired when he came up the stairs that he hadn’t bothered to take off his work clothes – even his belt was still on. He groaned to the ceiling, reaching to unbuckle himself, shucking his pants, and then standing quickly and unceremoniously unbuttoning just enough buttons to pull the rest of the shirt over his head. He collapsed back into bed, now just in his boxers, exhausted from the effort. Almost as an afterthought, he threw an arm over Catelyn where she lay still watching him. She wriggled closer as he did so, reaching to touch his lower back, now bare.

“You’re home.”

“Yep.”

“Are you awake yet?”

“Not really.”

“Okay.”

She was silent for a few moments, and he was almost sure he was asleep, when he heard her voice again.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Ned.”

Sighing, he flopped over to his back in mock resignation, opening his arms to her and bringing her close to rest against his chest, his arms around her and her hand comfortably gripping his hip.

He suddenly noticed something was strange about his pillow. He reached under it and pulled out a book.

“You were reading while I was gone?!” he asked.

“Yeah…why?”

He turned the book over in his hands.  “You shouldn’t read these when I’m gone.”

She threw her head back and laughed. “Trust me, I’m not acting on them with anyone. The...urges just lie dormant until your return, dear.”

The book he held in his hand had the cover off. One of Catelyn’s guilty pleasures, which she had had since high school, apparently, was buying and reading terrible romance novels. She had confessed to Ned, early in their marriage, that she and Lysa used to go to the book store, sit in the aisles, and read passages together, wondering what it felt like to be in such romantic tanglements.

Embarrassed by the covers on most of them, she would rip them off, so that the children would not see. Ned always teased her that the kids could very easily read the backside or a few pages inside and know exactly what she was reading, but Catelyn felt confident in her approach.

She often read the books in the bathtub, with a glass of wine and candles. The pages would grow waterlogged from resting on her breasts as she read. And she would often rise from the tub and find her husband, eager for his hands on her.

“But…I wasn’t even here. I feel cheated,” he said.

She pulled herself up on her elbows to look at him. He knew she knew what he meant.

“You’re here now,” she whispered, with a quick quirk of her eyebrow.

“Mmm…yeah..there is that. He reached his hand up to knead at her neck and shoulders, and suddenly realized what she was wearing.

“Cat…”

“Yes?”

“Can your husband not afford for you to buy pajamas?” he asked.

She nailed him with a glare. “First of all, if I wanted pajamas, I would buy them myself, thank you very much. Secondly…” her voice softened. “I found it and I wanted to wear it."

He cocked his head on the pillow. “Huh?”

“I was making the bed the morning after you left, and I found your shirt, ah, kicked down under the sheets. And it smelled like you. I don’t know why, but I couldn’t make myself throw it in the laundry, and I’ve just sort of been wearing it since then. As pajamas.”

“Cat.” His voice came out thick. He thread his fingers through her hair and urged her closer,  until her ear was near his mouth. “I am sorry I was gone so long. But, as you said, I am here now…”

He pressed his open mouth to her ear before he rolled her underneath him.


	9. Chapter 9

Tired as he was, feeling her body under his, warm and willing, was more than enough to stir his blood.  Their mouths met, slowly, hungry. He grabbed at her hands, lacing his fingers through hers and moving them high on the pillow above her head. She arched her back obligingly, and he shifted in between her legs before he could even think.

He groaned into her mouth at the contact, feeling one of her legs climb up his backside and her heel dig into him there.

He pulled his lips back from hers, content with his forehead on her shoulder, feeling the intense pressure and pleasure of their hips rolling against each other. Her lips met his neck, and the back and forth of her wet kisses and then breath on them as she pulled her mouth away fueled his desire.

“I wanted you. So bad,” he managed to say.

She pushed her chest up into his, and he closed his eyes to picture her nipples hard under the cotton. Her hips rocked significantly.

“I want _you_.”

“Now, Cat,” he said, pulling to the side, quickly pushing his boxers off. He turned to her as she was pulling off his tshirt she was wearing, and without preamble, dipped his hand inside her underwear. She yelped, still momentarily blinded by the shirt she was trying to remove, but her hips arched against his hand as she fell back onto the bed, still struggling to get rid of the shirt. The skin of her thigh felt hot against his cock, but she was so wet and ready under his fingers, he made himself forget his needs for the moment.

Her legs opened to his touch, making his head spin with want, as he watched her lean sideways to grip his arm, breathing heavy.

“Ned."

"You're so _ready_ , Cat." He felt a rush to his head, thinking she was all for him, wanting so much to please her. Wanting so much to flip her several different ways and take her. Wanting to hide her away from the rest of the world and be sure she never said anyone's name but his.

"Oh, God. Ned.” His name escaped gritted teeth under her lips. Her lower half thust into his palm her eyes scrunched shut in a way that made him smile.

His name from her lips made him even more determined. “Let go, baby, I want to watch you come,” he whispered, praying it would happen soon, as he was pretty sure he could not hold out much longer. He needed to be inside her.

His lips around her ear sealed it, and he felt her nails digging into his back, leaving welts as she dragged them erratically in her release, silently screaming her pleasure in a series of heavy pants that left his ear tickling, damp with her breath.

He grunted, moving her beneath him, registering the way her body quaked with aftershocks of her orgasm, and lost himself quickly in what she offered, his mouth resting again on her neck, open and aware of the faint taste of salt.

 

He pulled his hands away from where they had once again rested on her wrists, hoping they wouldn’t leave marks.

Her eyes were still closed.

“Cat?”

They opened after a minute, hazy and searching until they found him.

She grinned. “We should do that again.”


	10. Chapter 10

“Your nipples are amazing.”

She laughed, stroking his hair. “I’m so glad you approve. You have quite an intimate view of them right now.”

Ned’s head lay on her chest, his arms wrapped firmly around her bottom. “No, really. They relax and go flat, like this,” he said. She looked down idly. His eyes were trained on her right breast. “And then if I just breathe on them, like this,” he exhaled softly twice. Catelyn felt her lower half squirm. “Then they pucker up.” She squeezed her legs around his thigh.

“Well, yes, dear. I believe that is the science of arousal.”

“A powerful thing, that.” He reached up a hand to cup her.

“Mm-hmm – oh!” His tongue licked said evidence of arousal, shifting his weight so he could look up at her and watch her watching him slowly open his mouth, carefully lick, and then pull back to breathe on her wet skin. Eyes locked on hers, his mouth moved over her chest and ribs, kissing and licking, making her shiver.

“Are you trying to set records today?” she asked, slightly breathless.

“Ha." His laugh was hot against her skin. "I don’t think I could just yet.  I just want to kiss you. This doesn’t have to lead to anything.”

“Famous last words.”

He propped back up on his elbows, one hand on each breast, thumbing her nipples, looking at first one and then the other, a hazy look in his eye.

“You look like a kid in a candy store,” she said.

He sighed. “I am a breast man.”

“You’re in luck, I have two. Just for you.”

“All mine?”

“All yours, babe.” They grinned at each other.

“Hey! Where are the kids? It’s like ten o’clock.”

“Let’s see…Robb is at a lacrosse tournament all weekend. Sansa is spending the weekend at Margaery’s; they’re all going to that dance together and then shopping for prom dresses somewhere. I found a three-day horse camp for Arya, so she’s at that, and Bran and Rickon are…Bran and Rickon are…oh, god. I’ve lost two children.”

“We’ll make more.”

“Camping! That’s right. They went camping with the Reeds. Some annual tradition of the family’s for this weekend, and they asked the boys to come along.”

“Wow.  They’re all gone?! We should have sex everywhere.”

“Definitely.”

He laughed, but then seemed to realize something. “You would have had a whole weekend to yourself.”

“I know! The house was so nice and quiet,” she said, wistfully.

“And then I came home and spoiled it.”

“Oh, Ned!” She reached her arms to pull him up to her. “Don’t say that. Honestly, I don’t even know what I would have done with myself, with everyone gone.” She kissed him softly. “You coming home is the best thing I could have asked for.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Positive. I missed you so much I had started wearing your clothes, remember?”

He laughed, shifting sideways and pulling her to him.

“What would you have done today? Did you have any plans?”

“Well…vague ones. Go get some coffee. Read my book." She looked at him suggestively. "I thought about hiking today. Lysa invited me over for drinks, I guess Petyr’s in town and wanted to visit us.”

“He’s just casually in town on Valentine’s Day to ask you out for drinks?” Ned narrowed his eyes at her, and Catelyn rolled hers back at him, placing a hand on his chest.

“Stop. That’s not how it happened. And I’m sure he has no idea it’s even Valentine’s Day.”

“And _I’m_ sure he does.” He reached his hand down to pull her leg over his, and then pulled her closer.

“There’s no need to act so territorial, Ned. He’s a childhood friend, that’s all.”

“Hmph.”

“Oh, brother,” she groaned, but snuggled into his chest, letting him hold her like she knew he needed. They both knew Petyr had slightly more than friendly feelings towards her, but Catelyn had never felt anything back. That didn’t stop Petyr from  looks and touches that were more than necessary whenever they met up, usually at Lysa’s for drinks or dinner.  Ned never liked how familiar Petyr tried to be with her.

They lay in silence for a few minutes, until she pulled back in his arms a little to kiss his throat and then look up at him. “Well, husband, should we get out of bed today?”

He looked down at her. His hand shifted to cup her bottom. “No.”

“Come on, let’s get dressed.”

“That’s a terrible idea.”

“Ned, I can hear your stomach grumbling. You have to keep your strength up for all the sex we’re having everywhere.” She grinned at his thoughtful look.

“You’ve got a point there, Mrs. Stark…”

“I know. I’m the brains of this operation.”

“I can’t help if mine stops working when you’re naked.”

She kissed him then, slowly. “I love you. Come make me coffee.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Is it much further?”

“I don’t think so. The view will be worth it.”

“I like the view I have now.”

She turned her head and he eyed her bottom significantly.

“I thought you were a breast man?”

“I’m a _you_ man.”

She laughed and started walking again.

“I think we’re almost there. You're not _that_ out of shape. You said you’d been working out at the hotel?”

“I have. My energy reserves are just a little depleted by the morning’s activities.”

“Poor thing.”

“You leading the hike helps, though.”

“How’s that?”

“I keep reaching to grab your ass and the movement propels me forward.”

She stopped on the trail and let him run into the back of her, placing his hands on her hips and then affectionately grabbing a handful of her bottom. She glanced at him over her shoulder, his grey eyes smiling, face flush from the hike.

“Come on, you flirt. If you’re lucky we’ll find a convenient bench to make out on.”

 

The trail extended up the hill, twisting into the trees before finally opening up to a flat view, where they stopped to look out at the rivers that ran through the canyons below them. The minerals in the ground made the colors of the canyon walls brilliant patches of yellow, orange and red, as the water splashed down the rocks and waterfalls. The sound of the running water was soothing.

Catelyn stood, watching the cascades, mesmerized by the simple beauty of water falling over and over. She wanted to touch it, swim in the pools. It was a bit cold to do so, she knew. But she wanted to all the same. She’d always loved the water.

She turned and saw Ned watching her, sitting on the ground with his back up against a tree. He held his hand up to her, smiling, and she walked over and sat in his lap sideways, kissing his cheek. “A convenient oak, then.”

“I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t.”

“Good.”

She reached a hand up to his hair, watching his eyes close in pleasure as she scratched as his scalp.

“You know, you’re really quite handsome, Ned.”

He turned to her surprise. “Am I?” he asked.

“You are.” She nodded with confidence.

Ned smiled shyly, running a hand over his beard. “Hm. I’m pretty sure Brandon is supposed to be the good-looking Stark.”

“No. I mean, he’s handsome, but I think people just notice him first because he’s loud. But you, husband of mine, are just what I want.” She reached for his hand and wrapped his arm around her, nestling into his chest. He was warm and solid beneath her, bits of chest hair sticking out of the dark blue sweater he was wearing.

“You’re just what I want, too,” he said quietly, pressing a kiss into her hair.

"Hey, I never even really asked how you managed to come home early."

"Well..." Ned told her quickly about Robert's idea to stay the extra days to golf, avoiding Valentine's Day.

Catelyn's jaw dropped, shocked. "I would have killed you if you had stayed!"

Ned chuckled. "Believe me, I know. I was so mad, since he knew how much I wanted to be home, too. That was a really long trip."

"How did he know you wanted to be home?"

"Oh, well." Ned paused, shy. "Just that he would make fun of me for not staying out late, doing whatever he was doing. Probably drinking and flirting and God knows what else. I would always go up to my room so we could talk on the phone, or you could send me pictures of your toes, so. He knew I missed you and the kids."

"But apparently he didn't miss his own family much?"

"No. Doesn't sound like it. It's pretty clear he and Cersei don't get along. And he never even mentions the children."

"That's awful. I feel sorry for those kids. That's no way to grow up, with a decidedly absent father. And their mother..." She sat in silence for a moment. "Do you...do you think Robert is cheating on her? I mean, I've just picked up on some things you've said after your trips, and..."

Ned looked out at the horizon and sighed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure he is. When we go visit regular clients, sometimes there are women in the offices and...I feel like I can just tell he's either already sleeping with them or planning on it."

Catelyn rubbed his arm in sympathy. "I'm sorry. I know he's your friend. That's not fun to watch."

"It's bad for the company, embarassing for me to be around, it shames his wife and kids. No, it's not fun to watch. That's for damn sure." He leaned his head back against the tree. "I don't know, Cat. He's just not the friend I once knew."

"Can you talk to him about it?"

"Robert? You've met the man, Cat. I've tried...I just can't understand how he wouldn't even want to go home to see his kids after two weeks. If I'm gone for more than two days I feel like I'm playing catch-up for the next five. Even when we talk everyday on the phone."

"Well, we do have more kids," Catelyn offered.

"That's not the point. He just...he doesn't even seem to care about his family." His arms tightened reflexively around her. She could hear the pain in his voice as he spoke about his friend, who had been more like a brother for over twenty years. It was pain and frustration. Ned's sense of integrity and love for his family ran so deep, Catelyn knew it was difficult to see his best friend's behavior. He spoke softly, thoughtful, "I know our marriage isn't always perfect, and our kids aren't always perfect," Catelyn snorted. "But...if it were ever to get so bad, I can't imagine not trying to fix it, to work on it, you know? If he's that unhappy."

She sighed, hand on his chest. "I can't either, baby. But I think sometimes people don't even want to admit they're unhappy," she said.

He gripped her by the shoulders suddenly and pulled her back to look at her. "You would tell me, wouldn't you, Cat? If you were unhappy?"

She smiled wryly. "Have you ever known me to keep an opinion to myself?"

"I'm serious, Cat. Promise me you would tell me." He stared into her eyes, searching for an honest answer.

She softened towards him and put her hands on his face. "I would tell you. And we would fix it."

He kissed her once, hard, and then looked at her face for a moment before he pulled her head down onto his shoulder, arms wrapping tightly around her, as if he might not ever let go.


	12. Chapter 12

After spending the better part of an hour in each other’s arms at the top of the canyon, leaning up against the great tree Ned had picked, they slowly made their way back down towards the parking lot, discussing what they should do for the rest of the day.

“Are you sure you don’t mind? We don’t have to stay long.”

“No, it’s fine. You made plans with your sister; I wouldn’t want you to cancel them on my account.”

“Jon should be there, and Petyr, as well.”

Ned barely hesitated before answering. “Sounds good. Do you want to go home and change first? Or just go?”

She turned and looked at him and shrugged. They were both in jeans and sweaters, though with relatively sturdy hiking boots. “I think we look all right, don’t you? We’re not going anywhere special, just Lysa’s kitchen.”

He looked back at her and smiled. She wore only a little mascara and chapstick. He could see every freckle on her face and the laugh lines that formed around her eyes. Her hair was braided behind her, coming undone in the effort of the hike. He thought she looked more than all right. She looked stunning.

He put his hands on her cheeks and pulled her lips to his for a kiss. “I’m glad I came home. I want to bring the kids back here sometime, but it’s nice to be with only you.”

She brought her hands up to his waist and laughed. “If you can find a day that one of them isn’t at a sporting or social event, I’d be happy to pack the picnic lunch for us all.” She kissed him back and began walking again.

“They're busy kids, aren’t they?”

“Good kids, though. I’d rather see them active, and involved in as much as they can, but still keeping their grades up. Although it means a lot of extra work for me. And if Sansa doesn't pass her driving test I will actually lose my mind."

Ned chuckled at the frustration in her voice. "I'm sorry. I wish I was here to help more with the driving."

She stopped for a second in her walk. "Maybe you could be?" she asked softly, and then resumed walking quickly down the hill.

"Well, Cat," He tried to begin, reaching for her hand as she lead them down the trail. "Catelyn," he called again.

She looked over her shoulder at him, but had brushed off his hand and kept walking. "Yes?"

He groaned inwardly. He knew exactly what she meant. When Robert had opened up this position for him, it had seemed like the right thing to do. It meant more money, that was certain. It meant Catelyn could keep working from home in whatever capacity she desired. It had also come to mean more time in the office, more travel, more time away from the kids. When he returned home from long trips, he could see the happiness as well as the exhaustion written on his wife's face. And truthfully, he'd grown tired of it, too. This last trip should not have been scheduled for two weeks - flying to three different locations and spending more time than was necessary on each decision. Ned was a man of action, and thought that if Robert were not so bent on the social aspects of business deals, they might wrap up negotiations much quicker. He thought they could have been home within eight or nine days.

"Catelyn, please stop."

He stood still on the trail and waited for her to pause. She didn't turn around, but he made himself start talking, walking a step at a time towards her. "This trip was too long. I mean to talk to Robert about it." He waited for a beat, but she didn't speak, though she turned her head to the side to indicate she was listening. "It's not like he said it would be, and I will bring it up with him on Monday. I want to be home more."

She turned all the way around now. "You mean that?"

"Yes."

He watched her shoulders rise and fall with a tiny tremble through her body.

"I want it too, Ned. I need it. The kids need it. I've been trying, and I hope you know, I hope you've felt - " he stepped closer to her and put one hand out to touch her arm as she took a deep breath and continued. "I support you, always, in what you do. I know this job has meant more responsibility, more money, more power in the company. And you are so good at what you do. But - but I'd rather have you home, baby." Her voice broke just a little over her last words, and he felt his hand clench over her arm. She looked up at him, her eyebrows tilted upwards both in question and worry that she may have said too much. He watched her chew her lip for a moment, then she looked away and shook her head. "I'm sorry. We're having this great day and I'm spoiling it. I shouldn't have said anything."

"No," he said softly, grabbing her arm to make her stay before she turned away. "No, you should have."

She looked at him curiously. "You like hearing that I might want you to face a job demotion to help out more with the kids?"

He looked off at the distance for a second before looking back at her. "No." She looked confused, and so he hurried to find the words to continue. "I mean... what I hear is that you need me. You and the kids need me at home."

"Ned," she shook her head as if his words were too obvious. "Of _course_ we need you. We always need you." She waited as he stood there thinking for a few moments.

"With Robb heading off to college this year, and soon the rest of them, I was thinking of the finances, of the future, and - "

"I know, Ned. That's what we talked about when you took this job."

"I know, let me finish." He took a breath, thinking, and decided to say something different than what he started with. "I cannot think of a better mother than you, Cat. When people ask about our children, they compliment them, and ask what the 'secret' is to raising them, I always tell them to pick the right wife to be their mother." She blushed and smiled, looking away, but he put his other hand on her arm to urge her to look at him. "Sometimes you do it all so well on your own, I forget that you need me, or I think that you don't. And maybe I try to provide in other ways. But Cat, to hear that you need me means something. I want to be what you need. What you and the kids need."

She stood there looking at him for what felt like a long moment before smiling just a little smile at him as she shrugged her shoulders. "You _are_ what we need, Ned."

He met her gaze and nodded. Then they turned to walk hand and hand down the rest of the path.


	13. Chapter 13

They stopped at Catelyn's favorite wine store on the way over to Lysa's, spending more time than was necessary wandering the aisles, browsing the selection, allowing their bodies to bump into each other. His hands kept finding hers or rubbing the small of her back to guide her to something he had found that he thought she might like. Catelyn knew he didn't know what he was talking about at all when it came to wine, but she appreciated his effort. It was the effort to please her, and the time they had together stretching before them that made everything he did seem easy and sexy. With both their jobs, the kids, life in general, it wasn't often they had the time to wander slowly through anything at all. 

She felt warm all over from the way that he looked at her, the intentional or maybe unintentional ways he kept making her aware of his presence. The whole trip to the wine store felt like a pretense to an experience they both knew was coming.

They selected three bottles, but at the last minute, Ned came up to the register with a fourth. She eyed him and he shrugged his shoulder at her, placing the bottle on the conveyor belt. "Now, is that for Lysa's benefit, or mine, or yours, Mr. Stark?"

"I've spent enough time with your sister to know there is no such thing as too much wine where she is concerned." Catelyn chuckled.  "And I am also remembering the abnormal status of the occupancy of our house. You see, Mrs. Stark, the house is empty."

Everything around felt insignificant as she picked up on his meaning, feeling the proximity of his body as he leaned towards her. She turned to face him, his grey eyes on her so intense and obvious that she had to close her own and breathe deeply to force herself not to step back before she could open her eyes again as he continued.

"And I recall some conversation regarding the possibility of intimate interaction on the available spaces left by the absence of normal occupants." His breath felt hot on her ear as he spoke, and the images his suggestions conjured up created a deep and twisting want between her legs.

Catelyn steadily ignored the interested stare of the clerk ringing up their items as she turned to pay for the wine, allowing Ned to sidle up even closer behind her, although his arms stayed at his side, their bodies not yet touching, but the tension rippling through the air around them.

"You feel the need to wine and dine me, Ned? To this extent?" she asked over her shoulder, not even sure what she meant, but feeling like she had to say something.

His voice was low, still hovering outside her ear without truly touching her. "I'd like to think that if I asked, you would break plans, let me drive you home and take you in a million ways." At his words, she felt her nipples pucker up in a way that made her melt backwards into his body and want to groan away in frustration at the same time. "But maybe the wine is so you can have a few glasses and not feel bad about leaving early. I can claim you too drunk and need to be taken home to bed. Hopefully about two minutes after we arrive."

She laughed out loud at that as she collected the change from the cashier, reaching for the bag and holding out a hand behind her for Ned to grab on to. " _Or_ maybe the wine is to have you pliant and willing for whatever _I_  might have in mind, Mr. Stark."

He stopped walking, tugging on her hand. "What exactly did you have in mind?" She smiled back at him but kept walking, dragging him behind her.

When they were out at the parking lot, she drew him close to her, let him put an arm around her and bring their mouths together for a kiss as they approached the car. "Oh, you'll see. You'll see," she whispered into his ear when they parted.

He walked her to the passenger side, unlocked the car with the automatic clicker, and went to open the door for her, waiting until she slid in before he closed it, and then did a little half-jog over to his own door. She ducked her head to hide a smile as he got in.  _Every time you do that, Ned,_ she thought, _keeps me falling in love._  


	14. Chapter 14

"I wonder how all the kids are doing."

"I know. It's silly but I miss them."

"Not silly. And me, too. Long two weeks in lots of ways," Ned mused.

Catelyn reached over to hold his hand. "Sansa texted me earlier. She said the dance was lots of fun. Her pictures on Instagram were gorgeous."

"That boy better have kept his hands to himself."

Catelyn laughed. "I'm sure he did. Arya's probably covered in mud and manure and loving every minute of it. Robb posted something on Facebook about his team doing really well. I want to call the Reeds' cell tonight to check on the boys, as Bran and Rickon are probably in a tree or climbing the cliffs around the lake and I can only hope they're careful. I'm already hating how much laundry I will have to do when they all get home."

"Lysa should have sent Robert with them. I'm sure the Reeds wouldn't have minded. Or is he too young?"

Catelyn snorted. "Lysa will think Robert is "too young" when he's thirty."

Ned laughed. "Is she really that bad?"

Catelyn chewed her lip in thought. “I don’t know if Lysa’s just overprotective because it was so hard for them to even have Robert…but I worry she spoils him. He doesn’t play sports or seem to have friends. Every time I talk to her, he’s either home sick from school, or in his room playing video games or watching television. I've tried to invite him over to play with our boys, bring him out a bit, but…” she shrugged.

“But what? He should know his cousins.”

“Yes, but Lysa is always diagnosing him with one thing or another; there’s always asthma or an allergy or something is sprained, and she thinks our boys would be too rough with him. Or she ‘needs him’ to run an errand with her. I don’t know. She's not very easy to talk to about it." Catelyn looked out the window, lost in thought for a few moments before turning back. "Sorry, you don’t need to hear all this.”

Ned shook his head. “She’s your sister, he’s my nephew, his father is my good friend. You’re worried. I don’t mind listening if it helps.” He squeezed her hand in reassurance and she smiled.

Ned parked the car on the sidewalk in front of the house. It was an impressive size, but made all the more so because it was situated on the top of a huge hill, providing an incredible view of the city below. He got out and walked over to Catelyn's side.

"Thanks again for coming with me, baby," she said as he opened her door for her. "I really do appreciate it."

"I told you I don't mind. We'll stay as long as you want. And you'll make it up to me later." He shut the door behind her and pulled her to him. "Because I am so excited to share Valentine's Day with my wife and Petyr Baelish. It is what I have always wanted," he deadpanned. She rolled her eyes and pushed him away, walking up the sidewalk and towards the porch stairs to the Arryns' house. 

"Ned, for God's sake, it was just some stupid crush he had a thousand years ago."

"You kissed him."

"We were EIGHT," she laughed.

"Still counts."

She stopped and turned to him. "At some point, Eddard Stark, you might remember we are childhood friends, nothing more, despite whatever rumors there were. Or that he was just a dumb teenager when he picked that fight with Brandon. I wasn't even with you at the time!" She turned to keep walking.

"I don't care. He wanted what's mine. Probably still does."

"Oh, brother."

"And why has he never married?" Ned continued. "And no man just casually hangs out with other women on Valentine's Day. This guy is something else."

Catelyn shook her head, reaching the door before Ned did and rang the bell. "Ned, my only love?" she asked sweetly, turning around to face him.

"Yes?" He reached her at the doorstep.

"Stop." She pulled his face to hers and her tongue darted out to gently lick over his lips before she kissed him. "Please." She kissed him again. "Oh! We forgot the wine in the car. Will you go grab it?"

He pulled back, a little dazed from the contact. She smiled the smile he knew was only for him, and he grunted in reluctant acknowledgement of her request. He was jogging down the steps back to the car, mentally calculating how long they would have to stay before they could escape without being rude when he heard the door of the house open. "Cat!" a male voice enthused from within. "I've been waiting all day to see you." Ned whipped around in time to see Petyr Baelish's arms wrapped around his wife in what no husband would likely call a 'friendly' hug. "Hello."

Catelyn was saying something he couldn't hear, but Petyr was laughing and it was all Ned could do to force himself to turn back around and walk to the car to retrieve the wine, which he now decided was very necessary if he was going to spend any length of time with Catelyn's childhood friend.

 _Just a hug just a hug just a hug…._ he thought

Whatever Catelyn said about the man, Ned knew it was _not_ just a stupid crush. He also knew whatever feelings were there, they had not ended for Petyr. Even when he and Catelyn hadn't been dating yet, Ned and everyone else had noticed how Petyr had followed Catelyn around like a puppy all through high school, constantly referencing childhood memories and practically begging for attention in a way that seemed pathetic to Ned. And anyone would have been crazy to pick a fight with Brandon over anything, but especially a boy the size that Petyr had been. And while Brandon hadn't been a particularly great boyfriend to Catelyn, to have his actions questioned by Petyr had more than riled him up, and Petyr's face had been barely recognizable through the bleeding and swelling when Catelyn's frantic screams and hands trying to pull Brandon away had finally made him stop pummeling his head against the ground. A boy doesn't subject himself to that for a crush.

As they'd grown older, graduated high school and married, Petyr had remained close to Catelyn's sister Lysa. Ned knew Catelyn had met up with them a couple times over the years to catch up whenever Petyr was in town. The few times Ned had joined her had required all his patience to not throw his own punch at the man for the way he openly stared at Catelyn, always managing to stand or sit too close to her, coming up with excuses to touch her or try to be alone in a room with her. Catelyn could laugh it all off as innocent friendship, but Ned knew better. Still, he did his best to quietly rage in his mind and not give Petyr the satisfaction of seeing him react.

And he wouldn't react now. He knew men looked at his wife; they would always look at the long red hair, the easy smile, the big blue eyes. But he also knew she didn't look back. For whatever reason, Catelyn Tully had decided to love him. He had no doubt of her faithfulness. But he never felt like trusting Petyr Baelish's intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one time i tried to write a valentine's day fic, and then it was March.


	15. Chapter 15

“And I just happened to find this old album, and thought I might bring it with me, once Lysa told me that you were also coming over for drinks on Valentine’s Day. I’m so sorry you had to be alone on this charming holiday.”

“Well, no, Petyr. I was trying to tell you that actually – “

“She’s not alone.” Ned broke in, having entered the house apparently unnoticed. He set the grocery bags down on the counter, leaned to kiss Lysa’s cheek in greeting, and had the satisfaction of noting the surprise pale across Petyr Baelish’s face as he placed an arm around his wife and reached out a hand to shake Petyr’s.

“How nice of you to stop by, Petyr,” he said, voice low.

“Ah. Eddard.” Petyr recovered quickly. “And how nice to see you. What an unexpected surprise.”

“Indeed,” Ned replied.

“Yes, I was trying to tell you both, Ned flew home last night to surprise me,” Catelyn supplied, turning to kiss Ned on the cheek.

“Oh, how romantic, Cat! Although, Ned,” Lysa cut in. “Jon will be upset to have missed you. He was called away on consult or something this weekend.” She waved her hand carelessly at the air, as if she didn’t exactly know or care where her husband was. “At least I have Petyr around to entertain me!” She looked at Petyr with a decidedly interested gaze. Ned noted her wine glass was already near empty, the rim covered in lipstick smudges.

“Yes, of course, Lysa. I do aim to please.” Petyr smiled a smile at Lysa that did not quite reach his eyes before turning back to Ned and Catelyn. “Eddard - had I known you were coming, I would have brought you your own bouquet,” Petyr added, gesturing to the counter, where two lavish displays of red roses were set in beautiful vases, with cards labeled “Lysa” and “Cat” set in front of them. Next to each were red heart-shaped boxes of what Ned assumed were chocolates, wrapped in elaborate gold ribbons.

The sight of his wife’s name in another man’s handwriting made his teeth grind together in a way that must have been audible, for he felt Catelyn’s hand drape over his around her waist.

“How thoughtful of you, Petyr,” he managed, tightening his grip on Catelyn’s waist. “They will look great in our dining room.” He didn’t turn to see Catelyn’s face as he said that. They never used the dining room. “Lysa, we’ve brought some wine. May I open it for you?”

“Of course, Ned! How fabulous! We can always use more wine!"

As Ned moved away from Catelyn’s waist towards where Lysa was motioning to him with the wine opener, he let his hand fall slowly and suggestively across her backside, his thumb pressing into her spine before traveling a little lower, turning to look at her as he walked the few steps away. Her eyes blinked slowly as they met his, an eyebrow raised. She nodded almost imperceptibly at him, as if to say, “Yes, I felt that. Yes, I am yours.”

He moved to open a bottle of wine he grabbed blindly from the bag, pouring himself a generous glass and taking a rather large gulp before turning back. Despite what felt like a physical tension in the air to him, Petyr had managed to snap himself back into action, and was pouring over whatever photo album he had brought, standing what felt like an unnecessarily close spot to Catelyn. “Cat? Wine?” He asked. “Lysa? Petyr?” he added.

“I actually have something to drink, Ned. Petyr brought some champagne. I’m fine for now.”

Catelyn lifted a glass to show him something a warm cream color and bubbling in a stemmed glass. Ned noticed Petyr’s smirk as he lifted a glass of his own in Ned’s direction.

Of _course_ he had brought champagne. Something expensive, no doubt. To go with the flowers. A dozen roses. And chocolates. And a fucking _card_. Damn the man. Thank God he’d come home and surprised her. What would have -

“ _I’ll_ take a refill, Ned!” Lysa giggled, cutting through his thoughts and calling him back to the bottle he clenched in his hand. He had moved a few steps towards Catelyn and Petyr without even realizing it. He moved to pour more into Lysa’s glass.

“These are hilarious, Petyr. I had no idea you had so many photos!”

“Of course, Cat. We had an idyllic childhood, did we not? I had to capture it on film. And here, if you turn the page, are pictures from the cabin on the river.”

Ned had poured Lysa her glass, made sure his own glass held an uncharacteristically more than an average pour, and sidled up behind Catelyn, hand back on her waist, appreciating the way she leaned back into his touch, and began looking over her shoulder at the photos they were viewing in Petyr’s album.

He recognized his wife as a child – standing at the edge of a pier, cradling Edmure’s chubby toddler hands in her own; waving at the camera from the middle of the river, her hair slick against her smiling face; one of her laughing, sitting on a log near a campfire. She was maybe fourteen or fifteen in that photo, but the sight of her easy laugh, open-mouthed and hands clapping together, no makeup, dressed in whatever was clean and comfortable, and knowing she might have ever shared that side of her with someone else made Ned’s insides churn. She looked the same to him now. But now she was his.

Ned managed to block out most of what he felt about Catelyn having been with Brandon. He could do it because he had watched a lot of their relationship, and he had been there for both Brandon and Catelyn at different points. He’d hated knowing Brandon was cheating on her. He was thrilled when they broke up. He was happier than he would ever admit, even to Catelyn, that she had still been a virgin until they had gotten together, despite Brandon’s best efforts. And he could block it out because he _had_ to. Brandon was his brother, and they saw each other all the time. It had taken one good fight between the two of them after Brandon had had a few too many to drink and made some comments about Ned getting his “sloppy seconds.” Ned had answered with his fists, and then Brandon never said anything again. A silent treaty had been drawn, and Ned knew that everything between Catelyn and Brandon had been left in the past since then.

But Petyr Baelish was a different story. Although Catelyn always insisted nothing had ever happened between them, Petyr had always loved to insinuate that there had been a romance. Ned could remember some of the locker room rumors he’d heard during high school, and back then he had been offended for Catelyn on Brandon’s behalf. But now he felt the offense as his own. And every time they ever saw Petyr, he had a way of constantly turning the conversation back to memories from long ago, before Catelyn’s life had twisted and melded so tightly into his.

Against all logic, Ned always found himself unsettled by the idea that Catelyn might have had any other men in her life before him. And Baelish seemed to sense that. And enjoy it. And he was leading a conversation in that vein now.

“Don’t you remember how we would stay up all night talking? And your uncle would try to scare us with ghost stories.”

“Or the time Edmure put a s'more in my hair and I tried to throw him in the fire.”

“Oh, God, Lysa, that took _hours_ to get out. You wouldn’t let me just cut that one part of your hair out and just be done.”

"Or when we got stuck in the middle of the river with no paddles?"

"And trying to make dinner that one night and we burned _everything_?!

“And we’d all sleep in that tent together and wait until the adults were asleep and then go skinny dipping?” Petyr offered, a gleam in his eye.

“I’m pretty sure we only did that ONCE, Petyr, since _some_ one thought it was hilarious to wait until the girls were in the water and then hide our clothes!” Catelyn giggled at the memory.

Ned froze. He had never heard this particular story. He gritted his teeth and willed himself to make no remark on the memories of a childhood friendship. That meant nothing. It was years ago. Nearly thirty years ago. He would not react. It would embarrass Catelyn and please Petyr. Not. Reacting.

“Oh my…I look like a boy!” Catelyn laughed, startling Ned out of his thoughts, pointing at a photo of her in a bathing suit, ready to jump off a rock into the river.

“Let me see!” Lysa squealed, pressing herself closer against Petyr’s side to look over the album. "You _do_!" Lysa laughed in delight.

“No, I promise you, Catelyn, you’ve never looked like a boy. You've never looked anything other than absolutely lovely,” Petyr reassured. Ned watched Baelish’s eyes sweep over his wife’s face and figure, as she was still turned to the album, unaware.

Ned felt his fingers twist involuntarily in the fabric at the back of Catelyn’s sweater where his hand had been resting, so much so that she pulled slightly back from the photos and turned to look at him with a curious expression on her face. Curiosity quickly changed to somewhat amused concern when she saw whatever his features had settled into. Their family and friends teased Ned for only having one facial expression, but somehow Catelyn had learned to read dozens of meanings from his face. Based on her reaction, he guessed what she saw was barely concealed fury that she viewed as unnecessary.

She reacted quickly. “Ned? I’d love a glass of that wine, now, my love,” she smiled as she twisted around on the barstool, placing a hand on his chest. “Perhaps you want one, too.” She tilted her head up and he knew she was inviting him for a quick kiss.

Normally as a couple they weren’t very physically affectionate in front of other people. Although Ned secretly enjoyed grossing the kids out every once in a while by kissing their mom longer than necessary, public settings saw little more than hand holding and chaste kisses.

But for Baelish’s benefit, Ned figured he could make an exception.

Petyr never turned from the photo album, but Ned was sure he was aware of Ned moving into Catelyn’s space, his hands on her waist, and the heat of a brief open-mouthed kiss that clearly said “ _mine_.”

He pulled back, secretly smug. “One more glass, Cat, but then we should go so we can make those dinner reservations,” he said, backing away towards the wine bottles, maintaining eye contact with his wife.

“Oh, surely you won’t be leaving us so soon?” Petyr asked, placing his hand on Catelyn’s arm.

She hesitated for just a beat, tossed a knowing glance at Ned and then turned swiftly on the stool to face Petyr, effectively throwing his hand from her arm.

“I’m so sorry. But, yes,” Catelyn held her wrist up as if to check the time on a watch. Which wasn’t there. She never wore a watch. Ned stifled a laugh. “Yes, we should leave fairly soon so we can shower and change and all that.”

“What a shame, Cat.”

“Oh, don’t worry, Petyr!” Lysa chimed in. “I’m sure you and I can finish the champagne!” She giggled, and Petyr smiled at her, patting her hand where she had placed it on his arm.

“I’m sure, Lysa.” He turned back to Catelyn. “Where will you be having dinner?”

Ned held his breath for half a second. He hadn’t thought that far.

“The Vineyard. Just opened. It was so thoughtful of Ned to get a reservation for us.” Catelyn turned back and smiled at Ned, but he could see the hidden expression in her big blue eyes. _I know what this is and you owe me big time._

“How lovely,” Petyr smiled, but again, it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m sure you will have a nice time.”

“Yes. Well.” Catelyn reached for the glass of wine Ned offered her, standing. “Lysa, will you show us what you’ve added to the backyard? I haven’t had a chance to see it yet.” She held her hand out to Ned’s, squeezing it tightly before pulling it to rest at the small of her back, as Lysa rose to lead them out the living room and sliding door to the backyard, where she and Jon had been working on some updates to their vast property.

“Sorry,” Ned muttered into her ear as they followed Lysa. To be honest, he was embarrassed. He knew Catelyn saw right through his actions and words. He had been jealous. Stupidly so. And he had lied about dinner reservations to cut their time at her sister's short. And his wife, God bless her, had graciously and quickly covered for him. He wanted to throw her against a wall and take her while she was annoyed with him, or throw himself at her feet and apologize, or maybe just walk behind her and never talk about it again for the rest of their lives. “Cat, sorry, I just couldn’t – “ 

She spun around and kissed him quickly. “You _are_ taking me to dinner, mister, after this little stunt. And I love _you_. So.”

She spun back around, just as quickly. And Ned tried very hard to follow her without feeling like he had a tail tucked between his legs.


	16. Chapter 16

"Well, then," she said, settling into the passenger's seat as he turned the keys in the ignition. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and tried to gauge how irritated she might be before he said anything.

"I wonder how long until one or both of them learns there is no new restaurant called 'The Vineyard,'" she mused.

"That was quick thinking on your part."

"Mmm. Yes. Well. Care to tell me why I had to think so quickly?" She reached behind her to grab the box of chocolates from the back seat.

"You're going to eat those?" he asked, annoyed that she would be enjoying some chocolate Baelish had bought for her, when he hadn't thought to do so in the airport on the way home.

"Um, yes. It is chocolate." She unwrapped the package, peering at the label. "Oh nooo...what a bummer. It's that assorted kind. I hate not knowing if there are nuts or weird cherries in there."

Ned straightened in his seat. "I know that. I would never get you that kind," he said, somewhat proudly. She shot a look at him as he drove them down the street back towards their house.

"Yes, well. That's Husband 101."

 _Damn right,_ he thought. _Her **husband** knows her chocolate preferences. _

"But Ned, really. At the house. There was no need for…whatever that was."

He felt her eyeing him, waiting for an explanation. He tried to think of something intelligent to say, which was difficult as he noticed her licking chocolate off her fingers - chocolate from Baelish.

He shook his head in frustration.

"Cat - I _am_ sorry. I didn't mean…but…the man brought flowers? Candy? A CARD?! And he _clearly_ thought you would be there alone. And was disappointed when you weren't," he growled, gripping the steering wheel more tightly.

"Oohhh this one has caramel." He turned and watched her slowly chew the candy in appreciation, oblivious to the cause of his frustration. He told himself to look away from her lips, away from her eyes closed in pleasure, turning back to the road and willing himself to focus on driving them safely home.

"Catelyn, I think the problem is you have never understood how interesting you are."

She paused, the other half of the chocolate almost to her lips, turning to him in question. "I'm sorry…what?"

Ned sighed, peering through the windshield for inspiration. "You don't get what men see in you. You never have. So you think Petyr is harmless. You don't notice men looking at you. You think it's friendly."

"….and it's not, I take it?"

"No," he said firmly. "It is not." He reached over the console for her free hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss contritely. "And it's not your fault. I don't think you even notice. But I can't help how much I don't like it."

"Ned, you know Petyr was and is a childhood friend. Nothing more. I know he is flirtatious, but - "

"No, Cat. We've been married twenty years, baby. It should be flowers from me, chocolates from me. I didn't even get you a card. Then this guy comes in…" he trailed off, shaking his head out the window.

He was grateful she let him think for a few moments. He tried to think of something to say, but couldn't. He saw her watching him as he kissed her hand again, and he hoped she realized he was trying to apologize. That he knew it was not her fault. But he thought her beautiful and smart and funny and everything, and he knew that all other men on the planet must think the same. But he did not want to share.

She twisted her hand up away from his mouth to scratch her fingers through his beard, a touch that spoke of comfort and understanding. Then she dropped her hand to find his own to hold against his leg as he drove. "So. Where are you taking me to dinner, my love?"


	17. Chapter 17

"Hey, Cat?" he walked into the bathroom where she was taking a shower.

"No, I don't need help, Ned," she teased, opening the shower door a little to peer out at him. "What is it?"

He paused. "What have I been doing out _here_ this whole time? I'm losing my touch." He walked a step closer, making a motion as if to take off his shirt, but she shook her head at him with a smile.

"Nope, not this time. Dinner plans."

He stopped his advance and lifted his hand to run over his beard in thought, looking a little embarrassed. "Well, that's the thing…I've called just about every place in town, and unless you want to eat dinner at 11pm, or maybe tomorrow, everything appears to be booked."

She gave him a knowing look. "Six pm on Valentine's Day. I hope this doesn't surprise you." She shut the shower door and he watched her reach for a bottle of something for her hair. "Think of something, Ned Stark. I _will_ be wined and dined tonight."

"You got it," he said, with fake enthusiasm, turning to exit the bathroom with one last look at his wife's figure through the steamed glass, wondering why he hadn't suggested mutual showering in the first place when he had hopped in when they got home. "I'll just go and figure something out. Don't worry."

He looked down at the list of restaurant numbers he'd already called on his phone that had denied his request for a reservation and felt a mild sense of panic.

 _Shit_.

 

She walked out into the living room where he sat waiting on the couch. "Okay, I'm ready. What's the plan?" she asked.

He turned to look at her, and stood up immediately. She was chewing her lip in concentration, fiddling with an earring, wearing a simple long-sleeved dark blue dress that dipped into a modest but low vee on her chest, tight everywhere until it began flaring out over her hips and ending above her knees. He wondered how she would feel if he slipped a hand under that hem right now, or maybe as they drove somewhere, if he could remember how to drive with her next to him striking a balance between classically beautiful and incredibly sexy in a way she always managed. Her hair flowed in easy waves over her shoulder, practically begging for his hands to play with it, and whatever perfume she had on only drew him closer. She caught his eye and knew immediately what he was thinking.

"Ned…dinner…what's the plan…?" she warned, but smiled all the same.

"The plan is now I walk you back to our room and we see how that dress looks in a pile on the floor."

She secured the back of the earring and held her hands out to rest on his chest before he came further, but let his hands run over her hips and tug her lower half closer to his. "No. That is not the plan. I covered for you at Lysa's, we're showered and dressed and can easily throw clothes on the floor later - " he growled and tugged her closer, moving his hands up and down her body in earnest. She laughed. "Ned! You owe me dinner!"

"We could just get some takeout. Order a pizza. Stay home forever." He leaned forward to kiss her neck. "Let me talk you into it."

He felt her still for a moment, his mouth on her collarbone, tracing up to her ear, and he took advantage of her compliance to reach down for the hem of her dress.

"Hey! No way." She pushed out of his arms and stepped just out of reach, folding her arms and leaning to the side, raising an eyebrow at him. "You said you'd think of something."

He sighed, trying to think of a way to tell her that he had called every decent restaurant within an hour's drive, but they had all but laughed at his plea for a last-minute reservation on what was arguably their busiest day of the year. Some places said they had been booked for months in advance. But he looked at her, hair tumbled to the side, and he noticed she wore the tiny pearls he had bought her for their first Christmas together, and something clicked.

"I did!" he exclaimed, reaching for her hand. "Come on."


	18. Chapter 18

She was curious about whatever idea had struck him so suddenly. She knew they wouldn't have an easy time finding a place to have dinner on Valentine's Day, even if they had tried calling for reservations earlier in the day, or even yesterday, had she known Ned was coming home. Honestly, it didn't matter to her where they ate. It only mattered that they did. After the hike and a few glasses at Lysa's, she was hungry for anything. And she'd enjoyed getting ready for the surprise date with her husband - she loved seeing Ned react whenever she had the chance to dress up. She knew he'd have a hard time keeping his hands to himself when she wore a dress like this, and she looked forward to dealing with his advances for the evening until they returned home. And then...

She shivered a little in anticipation. Home alone with her husband. Who had been gone for two weeks. And flown home early to surprise her. She was a lucky, lucky woman.

"Are you cold, Cat?" he asked, reaching a hand over to rub her knee.

"If I _were_ cold, it certainly wouldn't be helpful to have you raising my skirt like that."

"Sorry," he muttered, but kept massaging the inside of her knee all the same.

"Yes, you sound very sorry. So. Where are we going, exactly?"

"You'll see."

They drove on in silence for a few miles, but looking out the window, she suddenly realized where they were headed.

"Ned…"

"Yeah?" he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. She could tell he was nervous about his choice, unsure if he should be proud or worried. She bit down on her lip to see his uncertainty. She felt very loved. "Is this okay, Cat? I wasn't sure, but I just thought - "

She fought the urge to cry, pulling his hand into her own and holding it against her chest, looking out the window at the familiar buildings.

"This is good, baby," she whispered, and felt his fingers tighten in her own. "This is really, really good."

He guided the car, one-handed, as Catelyn refused to let go, into a parking spot in front of an older brown building at the end of a shopping strip. The neon signs blinked "Eddie's Pizza Palace" in the windows of what looked like a very worn-down spot. But the memories this place held meant more than Catelyn could even count.

This had been the site of many dates early in their relationship; it was dirt cheap, had a jukebox, and boasted a modest arcade where she and Ned had battled over Pacman and pinball, learning how to make each other laugh and to graciously lose to each other, as they both had healthy competitive streaks. When they had rented their first apartment after they married, just a few blocks away, it had become an easy date night spot. When Catelyn had been two weeks late with Robb, the owner Eddie, who knew them by name at that point, had made a special spicy pizza he swore would help induce labor and end her misery. Sure enough, their first baby was born just a day later. Eddie had teared up when they had presented a framed picture of their sweet babe to him as a "thank you" present to hang on his wooden walls. Robb, Sansa, _and_ Arya had all had their first bites of pizza here, Ned had bought her her first glass of wine here, they had had countless family dinners after countless sporting events for their children here. In that booth in the back, she had told Ned she was pregnant with Bran, as he had held up a sippy cup of apple juice to Arya's lips and she had pulled pepperoni out of Sansa's hair that Robb _promised_ he hadn't meant to throw there.

But when they'd finally saved enough to buy the kind of house they'd always wanted - with a huge backyard for all the friends and dogs and sports that seemed to be a part of their kids' lives, and an office for Catelyn, and a bathtub in the master bathroom that had almost made her cry with happiness, they had been removed from the convenience of this little divey spot. She couldn't even remember exactly when they had last visited here.

And tonight it seemed like a perfect place to share a mediocre pizza and a few glasses of house wine with the man she loved. Maybe she would let him try to feel her up and make out in a booth that probably hadn't been cleaned in months. Maybe she would kick his ass at Pacman, and then demand he make change so she could pick out songs from the jukebox.

That he had thought to bring them here made her feel warm all over and dangerously emotional. He stepped out of the car and did his usual half-jog over to her side to open the door for her, and she settled for pressing the length of her body against his, burying her face in his neck and wrapping her arms around his waist.

He hesitated in surprise, but then his arms folded back around her. They swayed for a moment outside the car door before he pulled back.

"I am going to destroy you at Pacman," he said, probably trying to break the emotional tension.

She burst into laughter. "You're full of shit," she said, wiping away tears that had sprung up against her will. She pulled back and reached for his hand.

"Ham and pineapple - "

" - pepperoni on half - "

" - thick crust, please," she finished, pulling him towards the door. "And a bottle of only your  _finest_ wine."


	19. Chapter 19

"Oh my God…it's  _just_  as good as I remembered."

He laughed, watching her chew her bite of pizza. "Cat - this has  _never_  been great pizza."

"No, but I'm starving and it's almost good."

"You have sauce on your cheek."

"Help me out, Mr. Stark." She leaned toward him, smiling, her eyelids lowered just enough that he knew she was feeling the "fine wine" they had ordered. ("Um…we have a red kind and a white kind?" the server had answered blankly when Ned had inquired over their selection, mostly as a formality, knowing this place had little variety in any area.)

He reached out a thumb, dragging it along her cheek where the tiniest bit of pizza sauce had landed. Before he could pull back, she turned quickly and took his thumb in her mouth to suck the sauce off suggestively, her eyes watching his watching her. He sucked his breath in with a hiss and then turned to the aisle, throwing a hand in the air and calling "check, please!" just to make her laugh.

She tried to reach for his extended arm. "No way! Half a bottle left, I want some quarters for the jukebox, and we still need to play games," she demanded.

"But I'm ready to take you home."

"We just got here."

"Fine. Five more minutes."

She laughed. "That's actually not how this works, Ned." She took another bite of pizza, her eyes crinkled in a smile at him over the gooey cheese clinging to her lip that was having a hard time separating itself from the slice as she pulled it back. He shook his head at her, a grin threatening his normally stern features. He would do whatever she wanted, and she knew it. And he knew he owed her a night out, even if it was at a divey pizza joint that they loved more for the memories than the food, service, or decor. He loved that about Catelyn - she didn't care about presentation as much as she cared about intention.

He reached in his pocket and came up with a few quarters, handing them to her and stifling a laugh at her cry of happiness. She walked over to the jukebox, slice still in hand, and started perusing the limited selection, hip and head both cocked to the side in concentration as she nibbled absentmindedly on her pizza.

After a few minutes of what must have been serious internal debate, she walked back over to their table, satisfied. She surprised him by scooting into his side of the booth, picking up his hand to drape over her shoulders, placing her own hand on his thigh as she kissed his beard.

"Hi, Ned."

She settled herself against him, content, looking over the rest of the restaurant until she saw something that made her smile.

He followed her gaze and found a young couple with a baby throwing an absolute fit over being placed into a highchair.

"Been a while since we had to deal with that, hasn't it?" he asked.

"Thank God," she sighed.

"You miss it, though. I know you do," he mused, folding a hand through her hair.

"Of course," she answered, her voice faraway in thought. "There is something precious and beautiful and funny about those years, when they're just starting to figure themselves out." She snuggled closer to him. "Those two look about as old as we were when we started our family," she nodded her head at the young couple, child now firmly strapped in, trying to holding hands across the table, doing their best to enjoy themselves and look less tired than they obviously were. There was a tiny gift bag on the table waiting to be opened, and a small bouquet of gerber daisies. Their child held a crayon in her mouth and was reaching for everything in sight as her mother deftly removed all utensils from the table.

"Eddie still has Robb's picture up by the counter."

"I know! Can you believe that sweet baby face is going to college in a few months? I don't feel old enough for that. I don't feel ready for that," she mused.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, both thoughtful.

"Do you ever wish we'd waited longer?" he asked.

"Waited longer for what? To get married? To have the kids?" She thought for a moment. "I don't know. Sometimes it did feel like we were kids raising kids," she laughed. "But I also don't think there's a magical time or age when you're suddenly more ready to be a parent. I think we did a good job. We can keep them."

He moved his hand down from her hair and ran his fingers up and down her side. "You don't feel like you missed out on anything though? Because we started so young?"

She turned to look at him, studying his eyes intently. "No, Ned. I wouldn't change anything about our lives," she said softly, reaching up a hand to pull his mouth to hers. "What's this about?" she asked, pulling back.

He shrugged and put his hand back in her hair, watching it fall from his fingers over and over. She waited.

"I just wonder…" he tried to start, thankful she was patient, had always been so patient with him. "I want to know that you are happy; that our life together has been enough to make you happy. That what I can give you…is enough," he finished, his words sticking in this throat as he said them.

"Ned," she pulled back from his arm, turning her body completely to him, placing her hand on his chest. "Please tell me this isn't still about Petyr and all that."

He looked away, embarrassed. "No. Not really."

"Do you think I need roses from you? Chocolates in a heart-shaped box to know you love me?"

He studied the wall, the greasy fingerprints on the "Specials" menu left on the table. "I should have gotten you a card, at least."

"Ned - I threw the card away."

"What?" His head spun to look at her. "Why?"

It was her turn to shrug, shaking her head a little and giving him an incredulous smile. "Why would I want a card from anyone that wasn't you or the children? I didn't even read it."

He felt his grip on her ribcage tighten. "You didn't even read it?"

"No, baby. I'm sure it was harmless - " he scoffed at that, turning back to look at the wall, "but - _but,"_ she placed her hands on the sides of his face, forcing him to look at her, "I don't want or need silly, misplaced romantic words from Petyr Baelish. I don't even really need them from _you."_

He leaned into her palm, but eyed her curiously, as if he didn't believe what she said. "But, Cat, I know you like that kind of stuff. Your books you read, and those romantic movies you watch…"

She rolled her eyes at him. "There isn't any day of the year I wouldn't love pretty flowers, or chocolates, or nice words from you. But flowers aren't more beautiful, and chocolate doesn't taste better, and words aren't more romantic just because they're received on February 14th."

"Is that the date today?" he asked, and chuckled when she smacked his chest.

"You _are_ romantic, you know. In your own way," she said, straightening up a bit in the booth and reaching for her glass of wine.

"Am I?" he asked, trying very hard to sound less uncertain than he felt.

"You are," she said, her hand finding his thigh again. She turned to look at him and smiled at whatever his expression was. He watched her eyes grow soft as she thought of what to say, somehow understanding that he needed the reassurance. "You _do_ things, Ned. It's not words so much. You work hard to provide for us. You love our kids - you're as involved as you can be, more than many fathers I've seen."

She set her glass down, turning and pressing herself closer to him, and his hands found her hair, her back, her waist, feeling how very little fabric separated his hands from her skin. She brought her face close to his, so close their noses touched, rubbing against each other in a way that felt incredibly intimate. He could feel her breath on his face. The love he felt for this woman who would choose him to be hers made him close his eyes against overwhelming emotion.

"You open doors for me, guide me through them with your hand on the small of my back," she continued, her voice low, still running her nose along the contours of his face, "you're unnecessarily jealous for me," she grinned when he grunted at that, "you, and only you, know how to touch me so I feel loved. You alone how to take care of me, how to take care of our family. And," she added, pressing a long but soft kiss against his lips, "I can tell you're already thinking of secretly paying for that couple's meal. And how much I love you for that makes me want to cry. You _are_ romantic, Ned. I am happier and luckier than any woman I know. You give me so much. It is more than enough."

She leaned in, and he brought his hands to her cheeks, melting his lips and tongue against hers. He wished he had the words to tell her how he felt. He wished he could thank her for the words she had said to him - words that made his chest feel very tight, that made him want to work for, fight for, protect his family at all cost. Words that made him want to cradle her in his arms for a very long time until he felt strong enough to stand up and carry her off to a strong castle, like some sort of lord or knight in a fairy tale to keep her safe from everything in the world.

He hoped she could feel all that in his kiss, because the words refused to come, except -

"I love you, Cat," his voice just above a whisper. She pressed as much of herself against him as she could, confined by the dimensions of the booth, which, he considered, might be a good thing, as he had half a mind (or even less of a mind) to try and slip a hand under her dress again. He settled for his hands hard against her backside, up and down again, pulling her into him until they had to separate in order to breathe for a moment, eyes locked on each other.

"I know," she grinned against his lips, kissing him again. "Pac-Man until my jukebox songs run out, two scoops of ice cream, and then please take me home, husband."

It was his turn to grin. "With pleasure."


	20. Chapter 20

 "So," she began, placing her purse on the counter and turning around to face him, "what do you want - " 

Before she could finish her question, his hands were at the back of her head and her waist, his lips on hers. He pushed her up against the counter, beginning a slow assault on her mouth, his arm around her waist pulling her closer against him.

She began to have a pretty good idea of what he wanted.

"What do I _want_? I thought I had made that clear, Mrs. Stark," he murmured, still kissing her.

"Oh, you made it abundantly clear on the ride home, my love."

 

She smiled into his kiss, remembering his hand bringing hers up to his mouth as he drove them home, his slow, open mouth kisses on each finger, into her palm, the graze of his teeth on the pad of her thumb and inner wrist making her breath catch in his throat. She'd returned the tease, palming his growing hardness through his pants until he'd let out a deep moan and then firmly grasped her wrist and threaded their fingers together over the console as she giggled knowingly. "Just you wait, woman," he'd growled.

And now they were in the privacy of their own home, and she was winding her arms around his neck with the laziness of a lover content to be the direct object of attention. She rocked into him, weaving her fingers through his hair, opening her eyes to peek at his, knowing they would be closed in pleasure. Their bodies began the back and forth motions of a building rhythm she knew he had been looking forward to all day. It felt so good to kiss him long, slow, hearing his sighs of pleasure, knowing she had his undivided attention for the night without the hurry of children coming anytime soon, or him having to leave.

 

It had been  _such_  a good day and night. If she weren't so distracted, she knew she would tear up to remember the happiness she had felt at the realization that he had flown all night from God-knows-where just to wake up with her in the morning. He must have been tired all day, but had hiked willingly with her to that beautiful spot she had always wanted to see. She had loved the hour or so spent in his lap, lounging under the shade of the huge tree he had found, talking about nothing and everything, feeling his hand in her hair and the comfort of his strong chest to lean into. And even though his unnecessary jealousy over Petyr's behavior had cut their time short at Lysa's, she couldn't help but feel glad they had left early enough to go home, shower, change, and then head to their pizza place. She liked dressing up for him - they had so little occasion to do so lately.

_Oh, Ned_. It was clear the idea to go to Eddie's had come to him at the last minute. That didn't matter - it only mattered that he had thought of it at all. He had been so nervous with his choice and then they had had such a good time. She had felt relaxed, young, felt the memories of so many years wash over them. They had sat in the booth over an after she had suggested they leave in five minutes - listening to the jukebox, playing Pacman, trading stories. As she had predicted, his hands had traveled towards her hemline a few times, just teasing against her bare thighs long enough for her to rebuke his advances in their familiar game. They had shared a small dish of spumoni ice cream, served in a styrofoam bowl with plastic spoons for dessert. The cheesy cheapness of the place made her remember how much they had been through as a couple, the challenges they had faced when they had married and had kids so young. Everyone had thought they were crazy, and they probably were. But she had loved him and been loved by him in a way she had never known was possible.

Before they left the restaurant, as she knew he would, Ned had subtly called the waiter over and slipped some cash to pay for the young couple's meal. And when she'd finished wiping away the tiny tears that had escaped, he'd let her kiss him softly as long as she wanted, and they'd slipped out the door to their car before the couple had even had a chance to ask for their bill.

She had married a really, really good man.

She came back to the present as his lips traveled across her cheek, down her neck and up to nibble at her ear lobe, his hands moving suspiciously lower down her body but then up again, in a touch too light - designed to make her crazy. She pulled him closer to her with her own hands, silently demanding more. 

"When I'm gone, Cat," his voice muffled against her neck, tongue and lips against her skin. "Do you know," another kiss against her collarbone, his touch growing stronger as she twisted into his hands. "Do you know how much I miss you? How much I think about this?"

Her head fell to the side, her body leaning into his touch. "Do you? Ned,  _oh,"_   exactly _there_ , she thought, feeling his hand cup her breast, the other hand reaching for her bottom to hoist her onto the counter, "as much as I do?" Her leg came up instinctively to his hip, her ankle behind him urging his body closer to hers.

His reached for her leg, slowly massaging her calf and knee before hitching it up higher against him so she could feel his hard length against her center as he pressed against her, never slowing down on his open-mouthed journey over her neck and collarbone, building their rhythm. Her arms traveled up and down his back, to his hair, grabbing and pulling and dragging her nails against him, feeling every moan and intake of breath he made cause a twisting and pooling low and wet in between her legs.

He slid his hands down her arms to her wrists, reaching to lace her fingers with his before twisting her arms behind her on the counter, forcing her to arch her back and press her chest into him. She shoved her hips forward along the counter and placed her other leg around his hip, using the leverage provided from his grip and began grinding shamelessly against him, desperate for more contact. His mouth began a slow descent from her jawline to her neck, down her chest, and then sucking at her nipple through the thin fabric of her dress, making her moan. _The kids are gone,_ she thought. _I can be as loud as I want._ _We can do whatever we want._ She grinned at the top of his head. He released his grip on her hand, using his to pull her closer. She reached for his shirt, pulling it from where it tucked into his pants and sliding her hand across his bare skin, hot under her touch as their mouths met again and again, his hands sliding up her thighs and grabbing at her bottom, kneading her flesh, and she could hear herself say his name into his kiss.

She pushed against his chest to enough to allow enough space between them that she could lower herself to the floor off the island he'd pushed her onto, then reached for the hem of her dress, crossed her arms, and grabbed the edge of the fabric to bring the whole thing swiftly over her head.

She watched Ned's gaze travel slowly up and down the curves her body fit into the deep blue lingerie set she had worn under her dress. With her heels still on, wavy hair flowing down her back, standing in very little but lace in the middle of her kitchen, her husband still dressed and openly staring at her in appreciation, Catelyn felt goosebumps skip up across her flesh as he looked, and ignored the tingle of nervousness when he didn't speak.

She waited. Catelyn wanted him to take her there on the counter, hard and fast. And then she wanted to take her time. She wanted to feel every inch of him up against every inch of her. She wanted his bare flesh, the fine hairs in special places, the beads of his tongue pressed against her. She wanted to be held back - his hands on her wrists above her head, his voice strained against her ear and asking for directions. She wanted to beg for his touch, to make him beg for hers.

His eyes met hers again, dark and wanting.

"God, you're amazing. I want everything."

She smiled, an eyebrow raised. "You can have it. But you're overdressed. Come here."

She reached to pull him against her then, needing to kiss him, needing to touch him, her hands reaching to unbutton and push off his shirt, his fumbling with his belt when he could bring them away from her body, trying not to break contact from their lips.

"How long til one of the kids - " he dipped his head to her breasts.

"Tomorrow afternoon. Oh, my God - don't stop…"

"So soon?"

"That's _lots_ of time. Take off your damn pants."

"But I have _lots_ of ideas." He lifted her up on the counter again, and she leaned back on her hands to watch him finish undressing, smiling and breathless.

"Is that so? _Lots_ of ideas?"

He stepped out of his pants and reached for her hips, dragging his gaze over her body again before leaning into her ear. "Lie back, Mrs. Stark," he whispered as his hands began pulling down the thin straps of lace and fabric at her waist, "and I can start to show you."


	21. Chapter 21

Catelyn slipped back quietly into bed after visiting the bathroom. As she knew he would, her husband rolled over and promptly folded himself around her back, fitting into her spaces, pressing his lips against her shoulder blade.

“Hey,” he murmured, his voice a sleepy growl, despite the evidence pressing into her lower half that indicated he wasn’t very sleepy at all. “I missed you.” He continued pressing kisses against her back.

“That could not have been more than five minutes, Ned.”

“I woke up and you were gone. I was worried you were getting dressed - ” his hand slid along her side.

“I only left to – “

Her voice faltered as he palmed her breast, slowly rolling her nipple in his fingers until she arched against him.

“But you’re not dressed," he continued, moving his hand down to her hips to pull her more snugly against him, and then bringing it back up. "That's good news.”

“Yeah?” she breathed, smiling, turning her face so he might move his lips there, dragging her fingers over the fine hairs on his arm.

This was her favorite way to start the day. She knew it was his, too. She was still aching from the fierce way they had made love the night before – her body still remembering . . .

_Locking eyes with his, a smoky and dilated grey, both barely able to breathe, every nerve ending firing under his touch. Ned dragging her panties off and chucking them to the side (and we better find those before the kids get home). The slide of his wet mouth down every inch of her before finally parting her legs and putting his lips where she’d wanted it most. His attentions forcing her hands to his hair, and his name and God’s and some very explicit phrases from her mouth as she writhed on their kitchen island. She couldn't tell if her constant cry of "please" was begging him to keep going, or begging him to stop. His hands held her hips down against the tile to keep from grinding too hard against his face. The friction of the cold counter under her and then finally FINALLY the hard slap of his body against hers as he fucked them both over the edge, arms wrapped around each other._

_Holding hands to make the shaky-legged walk to their bedroom, stumbling in the hallway against the wall, laughing at each other, brushing the sweaty hair from his brow. The weight of him on her, falling into bed for slow kisses and tingling limbs tangling together, building. Then she had made them both sit up, shot him a wicked grin and kept her eyes on his long enough to watch them go wide with understanding as she’d turned around on all fours._

His hand moved to her other breast, and she felt her legs rubbing together, felt herself growing wet, her hips rocking back into his. Remembering.

_His hands in her hair, then rubbing hard against the muscles in her shoulders to gain leverage, traveling the knobs of her spine, slipping to cup her breasts, the feel of his strong thighs against the tension in hers as his need met the center of hers. . . his grip on her hips and the feel and sound of him picking up speed as she turned around to watch him watch them where their bodies joined again and again . . . then his mouth open on her shoulders, her neck, panting her name, until he demanded she flip over toward the end. She knew he liked to finish, that he could almost never finish unless he was looking at her face. And she loved him for it, loved watching that last bit of control slip off and away as he chased his own climax. She loved feeling **his**._

His knee edged between her legs, spreading her open so his hand could dip lower, and she had to turn into the pillow to muffle a sound that brokered between overstimulation and desire. He slid his fingers through her curls, and she felt his hips buck up against her back in response to how wet she knew she was. "God, Cat . . ." She nodded, lifting her leg a bit more and moaning as he spread her slickness around and around again before guided himself home, sliding deep within with a satisfied groan.

She pushed against the mattress, gasping, moaning, holding steady so he might pump into her, again and again. She pulled her leg higher, back, to hit the angle that worked.

He chuckled behind her.

"What? What did I say?" she panted, trying to look at him behind her.

"Tell you later. You're so beautiful, Cat. So fucking beautiful. Come here."

She swatted at his chest half-heartedly as he rolled her underneath him. She met her ankles high against his back, reaching to wind her arms behind his head.

They smiled at each other as he pushed into her again, slowly, pausing when he had pushed to the hilt, registering the moment. She let her hand trail lazily down his back, up again to push his long hair out of his face. "I love you, Ned," she whispered, feeling the slick slide of him in and out of her. He lowered his mouth to her neck. "You feel so good." Her lips found what they could against his face, her hands found what they could against his back, urging him on.

Catelyn felt the scratch of her husband's beard against her cheek and the press of his thighs against hers, tasted his sweat on his neck, gripped the muscles of his back under her hands.

A hand slid between them as he moved faster, but he finished with a curse and a compliment and an apology. She brushed his words off, smiling and reaching for him, unsatisfied but unworried. But as his softness slipped out, his practiced fingers were against her clit. His mouth sealed against hers as she rocked against his pressure until she reached the end.

She eased back from him, panting, smiling, unable to think about anything but the face she was looking at. "Good morning, husband."

"I love you, wife," he pulled her against him. She nestled against the hairs of his chest and let him kiss her hair.


	22. Chapter 22

"Is that good? Can I stop or do I need to keep - "

"No," she began, and he let his hands stop. "No! I mean, it _is_ good, so I need more," Catelyn purred, leaning into his touch. Shampoo covered his hands and lathered up in her hair as he worked his fingers through it, standing behind her in the shower. "You could do this for me everyday, Ned. I wouldn't mind." She reached a hand back to grab at what she could of his body behind her.

"I wouldn't mind, either, my love. Not the shower, not your demand that I wash your hair for you - "

"You offered!" she protested.

" - and certainly not the activities that require we shower. Already looking forward to the next round. Rinse."

He stepped to the side so she could move back towards the falling water, and then spun to face her, taking advantage of her momentary blindness and busy hands to run his palms down her sides and cup her breasts. She sputtered against water as she laughed, opening one eye at him. "Haven't you had enough, Ned?" she asked, smiling.

"Enough of _you_? I don't think there is such a thing. Which one of these bottles comes next?"

Catelyn pointed to a green one. Ned grabbed it and poured some conditioner in his hand, drawing her to him and spinning around so his back was to the water again.

"Just on the ends, and then I let it sit for a few minutes," she said, stepping forward, wrapping her arms around his middle and pressing light kisses to his wet chest. He smoothed the cream through her ends for a few moments before dropping her auburn locks and tucking her head under his chin as his arms found their way around her small frame. They began the unconscious sway of a couple in embrace, and he pulled tighter as she nuzzled into him.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "This is nice."

"Mm-hmm." She leaned back to look at him, smiling, and he couldn't help but bring a hand up to cup her cheek. Her wet hair slicked back, breasts pressed against his chest, close enough that he could see every freckle and the drops of water hanging to her eyelashes. She was truly beautiful. As they had entered the shower together, she had remarked that she'd had some of the best sleep she'd experienced in weeks last night. He'd taken mock offense, asking "Were you not entirely engaged in our nocturnal activities, Mrs. Stark?!" and got the laugh he was looking for. But looking at her now, she did look happier and more relaxed than he could recall seeing her in a long time. She was always beautiful to him, but knowing he was the only one in the world that got to see this playful, makeup-free (and naked) side to Cat made him feel ridiculously proud that she would chose him to be her husband. He kissed her lips softly, slowly, feeling her hands trail up and down the marks she had probably left on his back from last night and this morning. "I was going to say," she said, pulling back slightly, lips pink. "Do you remember when we were looking at this house, and thinking about buying it?"

He nodded, weaving his hands into her wet hair absent-mindedly. 

"After all that searching, and we FINALLY found this place, I was particularly sold because the backyard has the space for the kids, and the extra playroom, but also because its shower and master bath were so much bigger than our old teeny one."

Ned tried peering through the heavy steam that had fogged up their glass shower doors, as if to estimate the size of the room. "Yeah, it is a little bigger. It's only the size of our first apartment all together."

Catelyn giggled. "I know! And I just remember seeing this and being so proud of you, how hard you had been working, the money we'd saved. Thinking of our kids growing up in this house and making it our forever home." He kissed her forehead but pulled back to let her finish. "And I was so happy to know we would have this space - that beautiful tub for me to take my bubble baths, and this particularly roomy shower, for mornings just like this." She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. "I'm ready to rinse now." She leaned back and smiled, waiting for him to turn her, but he didn't let go.

'Our forever home,' she had said. Ned stood under the water, looking down at his wife, wondering what he had ever done to deserve this amazing woman that would choose to be proud of him, to raise children with him, to love him, to be his forever. "I would give you everything I could, Cat. Everything you wanted." His voice sounded strange to his own ears, and he smiled weakly into her deep blue eyes.

She smiled back before tilting up to his face so he might kiss her.

"You do, baby. I have everything I ever wanted," she whispered, reaching up to kiss him again. "I love you. Now let me get under the water so I can rinse? I'm freezing."

 

*             *             *             *              *

 

"Still can't afford proper pajamas, I see." He handed her a cup of coffee, filled with so much milk it was almost white, and half a sugar, just the way he knew she liked it. Ned's was black.

She smiled at the mug he had picked for her - it was the one decorated with a collage of tiny photos of the kids that Sansa had ordered online for her last Mother's Day. She reached out a hand for the mug and rested the other on his chest. "I've decided I like rather like this shirt of yours, husband," she answered with a kiss, her hair, now combed and mostly dried, dusting up against him. "Although apparently it leaves you without one. Not that I'm complaining."

"At least _I_ managed pants."

Catelyn fingered the waistband of the flannel pajama pants she'd bought him for Christmas last year. "I'm glad you like these. They look good. I'll go grab the paper."

"What? You're almost naked. I'll get it."

"Ned, we don't have neighbors anywhere that could see."

"Nope. Go find a pen that works. Meet you on the couch."

He waited until she was well past the door, in case anyone happened to be walking by and would catch a glimpse of long, bare legs he wanted only for himself, and then went outside to the driveway to collect the Sunday paper. For as long as he could remember, Catelyn had looked at the weather, read the comics, and completed all the word puzzles every Sunday morning. He would take the Business section and the Sports section to read over, offering suggestions for the crossword puzzles if she asked. The kids would usually grab at the comics as soon as she was done, and he would hand the Sports section to Robb.

He walked back into the house and spied Catelyn already curled up on her corner of the couch, both hands wrapped around her mug, watching him over the edge of her reading glasses. She had once claimed they made her look old, but he had told her they just made her look hot in a sophisticated kind of way. As he settled into the couch next to her, he handed her the sections of the paper she wanted, and she passed his own reading glasses to him. They smiled briefly at each other, content to be on the couch together, indulging in a lazy Sunday, exchanging conversation when they wanted.

"It's going to rain this week, baby."

"It was already starting when I went for the paper."

"Stocks okay?"

"Mmm."

"Five letter word for 'happy?"

"Married to you."

He peeked over and caught the grin he knew would be there. "That's three _words_ , but thank you." She shifted sideways to bury her toes underneath his legs, and something caught his eye. He turned quickly back to the Sports section.

"Someone forgot to put on underwear this morning, Mrs. Stark."

"Didn't forget."

He cleared his throat. "I see." He turned back to catch her eyeing him, pen caught between her lips, a smile in her eyes. He glanced down quickly again before he turned back to the paper.

"Just trying to be efficient."

"I'm sorry?" He pulled back the flap of the paper, glancing at her over his glasses, meeting her eyes as she glanced over hers.

"I just mean, the children will be home at some point. And so . . . " she shrugged her shoulder. "I thought removing all possible barriers to future acts of . . ." she waved her hand through the air, smiling knowingly at him.

He fought against a grin. "What a thoughtful, calculating wife I have."

"It may also have to do with the fact that preparing to send five children off for the weekend involved washing everyone's laundry but my own." He made a face and she laughed. "But you have been gone so much lately, Ned. I have to take it where I can get it," she replied, smiling as she dug her feet deeper underneath his thigh.

He frowned a little at her comment, dropping his hand from the paper to circle her lower leg. "Cat, I told you yesterday - I do mean to talk to Robert about all the time away. I don't like it, either." He brought his eyes up to hers, feeling guilty as he watched her teasing smile fade.

She sighed. "I know, Ned. I'm not trying to bring that up again. I didn't mean it like that, although I should have guessed that's what you would think." He watched her chew her bottom lip in thought. "I'm sorry. However, it _has_ been so long since you've been home all weekend. Longer still since I've had you all to myself. And I like it." She tilted her head and smiled at him, her eyes bright blue, moving over his body quickly before finding his own eyes.

He felt relief, knowing she didn't mean to have another conversation about his terrible work schedule at the moment, and made a mental note to email Robert that afternoon to set up a time to discuss the next few months of meetings, and changes he had started to think of on his flight home Friday night. He felt her toes wiggle underneath him, and focused again on her face, still smiling. "I like it, too, Cat." He squeezed his hand around her calf, running his fingers up and down her smooth leg, circling her ankle and then back up again, watching her eyelids droop a little and her smile grow lazy. He knew she always melted under the slow, soft touches. "And what do you plan to do with your husband, in these last few hours we have all alone?" he asked, his voice low.

Her eyebrow shot up, catching his tone, and his eyes locked on her tongue as she licked her lips before slowly dragging her bottom lip between her teeth and releasing it. He watched her put the paper and pen down on the floor and place her reading glasses on the coffee table, then reach her hands up to her hair to deliberately shake it out over her shoulders. He felt himself grow very still, waiting to see what she might do next.

"Well," she said slowly, pulling her legs out from under his thigh and crawling over to where he sat, transfixed. She leaned in so close he could feel her hair on his shoulders and chest, could smell her shampoo. Her hand came to rest lightly on his legs, just inches away from where he could feel himself responding to her, and then she slid it across his stomach and up to his shoulder, bracing herself to slide her knee over his lap and straddle him. "I thought," she dragged out, shifting her weight against him more fully, grinning as his hands found her bare bottom under his shirt she was wearing. "I thought," she began again, and he felt her fingers in his hair as he looked up into her eyes. "That as a thank you to my husband, for flying home to be with me on his favorite holiday," she leaned in and kissed him slowly, and he pulled her closer to him, sliding his hands further up her back, feeling her tongue slide against his and imagining other places she might slide that same tongue against him until she rocked back quickly on her feet and stood up, leaving him breathless and confused. "I thought I might make him a nice big breakfast."

He sat on the couch, panting and feeling slightly frustrated. "Cat! You're joking, right?" he looked up at her, bewildered. She laughed.

"I'm starving! I know you are, too. And we have hours, remember?"

"Catelyn Tully Stark," he warned. "If you are thinking of making me go on another hike after this breakfast - "

She rolled her eyes. "I promise all further physical activity for the day will be confined to whatever available surface you desire, inside or even outside the house. There will be no hike." 

He looked at his lap, where she had just been sitting, his empty hands flexing, still frustrated. She must have taken pity on him, for she leaned down and kissed him again before pulling back to look him in the eye, her hand still on his cheek. "I want to make you a nice breakfast, okay? And then I want to spend all day in bed with you, until the kids start coming home, and then we'll get a pizza and play a game or whatever. I'm all yours until they get here."

"And then?" he asked, gruffly, still a little frustrated, but he could feel it weakening. He _was_ hungry. And Cat made great breakfasts.

"And then I'm still yours. With some sharing." She kissed him again and then began walking to the kitchen.

"What a thoughtful, calculating, and somewhat difficult wife I have," he said to her back, his eyes on the hemline of his shirt she wore as it skimmed the back of her thighs.

"I love you, too!" she called over her shoulder. He flopped back on the couch, shaking his head but smiling at her retreating footsteps.

 _You do keep it interesting, Cat,_ he thought, hearing her begin to sing something under her breath as she pulled things out of the fridge and reached for the pan under the counter. _Interesting, indeed._


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had accidentally posted part of this earlier when my computer was possessed by wine (that's my best guess). Sorry about that mishap if you were around for that.
> 
> Anyway, one more chapter before Valentine's Day ends in June. :) Thanks for reading.

Catelyn pulled out what she knew she would need for a nice breakfast. While Ned proclaimed his desire to simply make love in a number of ways in all available spaces around the house, she knew the man needed to eat. In order to truly enjoy his ideas for their remaining time together before the children began arriving home, she needed to cook him a nice breakfast. And she wanted to. She loved watching him try to sneak bites from her plate in spite of the fact that she'd add seconds to his plate before he'd even asked for more.

She enjoyed making meals, and it wasn't often she got to take her time making them for just Ned and herself on a lazy Sunday morning. She smiled now, thinking of her childhood and her own mother fussing in the kitchen, heaping piles of food on her plate along with Lysa's and Edmure's. Finally her father would call her over to convince her to sit down and enjoy the meal with them. "You're working too hard," he'd say. "Come and sit with us," pulling her hand towards his mouth for a kiss. As Catelyn had grown older, she'd started to recognize that in every bite of food, her mother had been saying "I want to make this for you because I love you." And as a wife and mother, she had discovered that she liked to cook for her family, too. She liked them to have dinner all together as often as they could and to smile around the table as the children begrudgingly offered their "high and low" of each day. She liked making favorite recipes for each of the kids on their birthday. She loved seeing Ned's eyes close in appreciation over something she made that was exceptionally good.

She'd gotten as far as bacon and buttering some toast when she heard him walk into the kitchen.

"I tried waiting on the couch. Then I remembered you don't have pants on."

She turned from where she had started mixing eggs in a bowl to face him. "Ned. Stay over there, please, and let me finish," she warned, fork in hand.

"I will! I even brought the paper to keep me occupied." He held up the Sports section in defense as he sat on a stool at the kitchen island. "I'll just sit right here and . . . supervise." He eyed her legs briefly before meeting her smile. She felt a blush spreading over her cheeks.  _How does he always do that to me?_  she wondered, unable to help the grin that answered his.

"You're quite insatiable, Mr. Stark."

"You're hot, Mrs. Stark. My appetite for you can't be helped."

She shook her head and looked back down at the eggs, just starting to scramble in the pan. "Good things come to those who wait, my love."

"I hope you're right. I have more ideas."

"More ideas about . . . "

"About how we can spend today."

"I have a few of my own. And I feel certain it's my turn to . . . " She turned in time to see his eyebrows shoot up in happy anticipation, and she frowned at him in mock severity. "First we eat."

 

They spent the next hour mostly in the comfortable, easy silence that exists between two people who've lived so much of their lives as a couple. They sat casually at the kitchen island stools, Ned's hand on her leg or her back, or handing her ketchup or butter before she even asked for it. She leaned into his bare shoulders in between bites, pressing kisses to his skin. They completed the jumble and made a half-hearted attempt at the rest of the word puzzles before Ned tossed the paper aside.

"Okay. I'm done. Come here." He shoved his plate forward and tried to pull her into his arms. She resisted, sitting up straight on her stool, and tried to look stern again.

"Catelyn, my only love. That was delicious. Thank you for a nutritious meal," she intoned.

"Right, all of that," he nuzzled against her neck. He pulled back and looked at her. "Cat. It's eleven o'clock. I'm not sure when the kids are coming home, but - "

"I promise all necessary parts will still be willing and able . . . and probably well used long before they  _do_ come home," she quipped, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "We never get a lazy Sunday for just the two of us. I don't want to rush through any of it." She kissed him again and grabbed for her pen, smiling her most winning smile. "Start the dishes while I finish the crossword?"

He shook his head, eyes narrowed at her, but she saw the smile behind them. "You're playing hard to get."

"Considering the last 48 hours, Ned, I think that's a bit of an overstatement." She smiled knowingly at him as he walked towards the sink. "Perhaps an outright lie."

 

He let her look again at the paper as he washed the dishes in the sink, putting various items away in the fridge. She sat at the island and filled in a few words for a couple of minutes, but soon gave up any pretense of finishing to just watch him work. She chewed the edge of her pen, smiling as he hummed something off tune. Her eyes swept over the smattering of freckles on his upper back, the sprinkling of hair across his shoulders, the curve of his spine dipping into his pants. He swayed unconsciously back and forth as he scrubbed at the dishes, and she watched the muscles in his shoulders work.

While those muscles were as strong as ever, the flesh just above his pajama pants was certainly less firm than it had once been, and she knew he bemoaned the fact that his waistline was not quite as narrow as ten years before. As her body had changed, his had, too. Ned often made self-deprecating jokes about getting older, and though he never admitted it to the kids, he was often sore the day after running lacrosse drills with Robb or throwing the smaller ones into the pool over and over again. He might not look like the athlete he'd been when they'd met, but he still looked better than good to her. Certainly better than most middle-aged men she knew. And she knew every inch of his body, loved every scar and the story behind each one, and she knew exactly where to touch to provoke precisely the kind of reaction she wanted.

Despite a few grey hairs, his face was largely unchanged. Those who didn't know him well might tease that his solemn face only held one expression, but after twenty years of marriage, Catelyn knew she could read every changing emotion that crossed his face with a clenching of his jaw, a small tilt of his head, a shifting color in his eyes. His smile came easier these days, and when he smiled, it lit up his entire face. But one still had to earn his genuine laugh. He'd laughed a lot this weekend. So had she.

"There!" The last of the dishes loaded and the counter cleared, he flicked water off his hands into the sink and then reached to wipe them on his pants, just like their boys did. "Finished. Finally." He turned to see her smiling at him and grinned back in reflex. "Cat?" he asked.

"I love you."

He blinked, surprised. "I love you, too," he responded.

"Come here."

He walked towards her and she spun on the barstool to reach for him, wrapping her arms around his waist as he stepped in between her legs. He kissed her forehead before she dropped it to his chest, feeling his hands in her hair.

"Hey! I almost forgot!" She pushed him back and slid off her barstool, making for the dining room.

"Where are you going?" he called.

"Just a sec!" She rifled through the mail and magazines they always threw on the dining room table.  _Where did I put it?_ Finally she found what she was looking for.

"Here!" she cried, triumphant. "I'm so glad I remembered." She placed a blue envelope into his hands. "Happy Valentine's Day. Again. Every day. And all the time." She kissed his cheek.

"You got me a card?"

"Of course." She looked up at his face and saw it twist from brief excitement to the same shade of guilt that had shown up in response to Petyr’s lavish gifts. "Ned, stop. I already told you I don't need or want . . ." she waved her hand off into the air. "Whatever. I'm happy you are home and with me and we had this time." She squeezed her arms around him, nestling to his side. "So just open it, okay?" She tucked her head against his shoulder and waited for him to give in, feeling his arms settle around her. He fingered the envelope, still hesitating.

"But you shouldn't have gotten me anything. I wasn’t going to be home, and I don't need anything, either, Cat - "

"Open the damn card, Ned."

He chuckled a little and slid a finger under the flap of the envelope. He opened it and pulled out two slips of photograph paper and a piece of paper. She could feel him hold his breath and go very still as his eyes roamed over the photos and it made her smile.

She had used one of her computer programs for making event invitations to create two collages of pictures of Ned and the kids, adding a few of the two of them. It had been harder than she had initially thought it would be to find pictures. For one thing, Ned had been traveling so much in recent years with his promotion that he wasn’t around for as many big events as he had been when the kids were younger. But she had also discovered that even when he was there, he was usually the one taking the picture.

It had actually been fun to comb through shoeboxes full of pictures she had always meant to slip into albums, and then shuffling through the hundreds of computer files she promised herself she would organize later. She’d almost wished Ned had been with her to look at all the photos, to see the changes in the kids’ faces as they grew, remember memories from family vacations, try and recall why this child was pouting at this event, or what that child was looking at instead of the camera.

She wondered if he could remember what had inspired the laugh in a candid photo of the two of them Sansa must have taken during her brief obsession with photography. She rather liked the photo – Ned holding her around the waist, both tan from the summer, and he was smiling a rare full smile down at her laughing with her head tilted back, hair falling behind her. She couldn’t remember what event last summer it was from, but she had positioned it across from a photo from their wedding in the collage. _Twenty years_ , she thought. She looked over the photos briefly, remembering the thousands of moments caught on film she had shifted through to decide on these few snapshots to sum up their life together. _Oh, I love you, Ned,_ she thought.

He still hadn’t said anything so she started explaining, speaking softly. “I printed them on photo paper. I thought we could put them in frames and you could have them on your desk at work. You haven’t had any updated photos in a while.”

He swallowed hard before speaking, and when he spoke, she could hear the emotion in his voice. “These are some very beautiful pictures. Thank you.” He dropped one hand from the photos to pull her face up to his and kissed her tenderly. "Thank you for our family," he kissed her again. When he finally pulled back, he turned back to the collages and cleared his throat before trusting himself to speak. “You make some good looking kids, Cat." 

“I hold you responsible for at least half of anything, love. Do you like the ones of us? I think that’s last summer at the cabin, and then there’s this old one.” She pointed to the photo from their wedding, Ned leading her by the hand down the aisle. In contrast to the more recent one, she was looking at Ned in this photo. Her veil was flying out behind her, eyes shining and a huge grin on her face watching Ned laugh and shake hands with someone who was out of the picture, but she thought it might have been Robert. “You nearly dragged me down that aisle. I could barely keep up with you!”

“You looked so good I had to get you out of there fast for a real ‘man and wife’ kiss. One without your father watching.”

She smiled at the memory. “I guess I was lucky to make the reception.”

“You were lucky. Very lucky.”

“And I’m sure there is more luck coming my way soon. But open the actual card part, Ned.” She took the photo collages out of his hand and placed them on the counter so he could better see the simple sheet of cardstock paper she had written on in her own hand.

“Ned,” he began, reading the words aloud. “I love you. I can’t imagine anything better than – “ his voice dropped slowly until he stopped speaking, but she felt his grip on her tighten, pulling her close to him as he kept reading silently to himself.

There weren’t many words on the card. She stood in the circle of his arms and let him hold her, trailing her fingers up and down his back and waiting for a few minutes.

Finally he set the simple paper down on the counter next to the pictures and fully wrapped his arms around her, pressing his lips to her hair.

“All of it?” he asked softly.

“All of it,” she answered, tilting her head back to look in his eyes and reading the emotions that played behind them. She hadn’t expected her card to affect him so, but maybe it was all the conversations and intimacy of the weekend together. Watching him open it and feeling rather than hearing or seeing his reaction to the pictures of their family and the words she had written . . . she knew instinctively what both of them needed for just a little while.

“Come hold me?” she suggested, and he nodded gratefully as she stepped forward out of his embrace, securing his hand in hers and began walking back to the living room.

“Oh!” she cried, tripping slightly on something on the floor. They both looked down and then back up at each other to grin sheepishly, but kept stepping toward the couch.

“I suppose I will have to pick up all of your pieces before the kids get home,” he teased, stepping over her dress on the floor from the night before, then eyeing her bra flung over the chair. God only knew where the rest of their clothes were.

She laughed softly and smiled back at him as the back of her legs hit their old comfy couch, pulling him down to nestle with her against the cushions. “Just come hold all of me together right now.”

He leaned in behind her, lowering himself onto the couch and stretching his frame around hers, arms and legs angling until she was sure every inch possible was touching a part of him, sighing as his fingers found hers to thread together against her chest.

 

She watched the rain falling outside the window for a few minutes, smiling to hear Ned begin to snore softly behind her, shifting behind her in his sleep whenever she moved, his breath against her hair and ear just this side of ticklish. She snuggled back and closed her eyes.


	24. Chapter 24

“I’ll be quick, I promise!” Sansa shut the car door, jogging up the driveway to her house as she dug into her purse in search of her house keys. _Where the heck are my keys?! Mom will kill me if I’ve lost them…especially since I made so much fun of Arya for the same thing last week…_

“Hey! Dad’s home!” she said to herself, noticing her father’s car in the driveway. _I bet Mom’s happy. Valentine’s Day weekend, too. Good job, Dad._   

She stopped. _Oh, God. Valentine’s Day. And everyone else is gone this weekend, too. Nope. No way I’m going in there._

“That was quick,” Margaery said as Sansa slowly pulled the car door open.

“Actually, I didn’t go inside.”

“Wait – what? Sansa, we need your curling wand, and you have all the magazines with prom ideas in them.”

“Can’t we just buy the same magazines? And your hair looks fine. So does Jeyne’s. We don’t need – “

“Why won’t you go into your own house?”

“Well…my dad’s car is here. I think he came home to surprise my mom for Valentine’s Day –“

“Didn’t you tell me you had to remind him that the day even existed? But now he’s home to surprise her?”

“Well, yes, which is nice, but I know Arya and all my brothers are gone for the weekend, and I just don’t want to risk, like, you know…disturbing them. They could be anywhere. Doing anything. I don’t want to…be rude.”

Margaery rolled her eyes and sighed, smiling knowingly at her friend. “Sansa. You’re 16. Practically an adult. Your parents had sex at least five times to bring you and your siblings into the world. And all married couples are obligated to have it on Valentine’s Day. Although, from what I can see from hanging out a few times with them, your parents are doing it more often. But that does not mean they are currently banging against your bedroom wall..”

“Margaery! Jeyne – stop laughing! They’re my parents!”

“Sansa, just go! Stomp loudly so they have a warning to break it up.”

Sansa heaved a huge sigh, but turned and squared her shoulders. _I guess I’ll go around the back_ , she thought.

 

“Be brave, young grasshopper!” Margaery called from the car, and Sansa turned to see Jeyne collapse into giggles in the back seat. Sighing heavily, she headed towards the fence that led to the backyard, reaching for the secret rock with a key in it that her mother considered “hidden” in the tomato plants.

She’d never be nearly as open as Margaery about relationships, feelings, sex . . . or anything, really. But Sansa did think it was pretty cute how in love her parents seemed to be with each other. She smiled whenever she caught her dad reaching for her mom the moment he walked in the door from work, as if he couldn’t wait another minute for a hug and a kiss. And she thought it was adorable the way they seemed to move in sync  – making space for each other without even thinking about it, whether they were sliding into the bleachers to watch a sporting event or onto the couch to play a game or watch a movie. They even held hands across the console in the suburban when they drove somewhere.

Maybe it was because her hair was so similar, but Sansa thought her favorite thing was to catch her father playing with her mother’s hair – tucking it behind her ear, tugging on it to pull her toward him, smoothing it down behind her when he held her. She liked to think that one day she would find someone as perfect for her as her dad was for her mom, and he might do the same.

She loved her parents and the example they’d set for her and her siblings. But she was _very_ sure she didn’t want to walk in on them having sex.

Margaery, however, she thought to herself with a chuckle, would probably stand, watch, and take notes.

All right then. The curling iron was in her room, and the magazines were on the living room table. She would move slowly - not make any noise until she could determine what part of the house her parents might be in. She steeled herself before the back door, slid the lock open gently, and stepped inside.


	25. Chapter 25

He had dozed off, the warmth of his wife pressed to his chest, the sound of the rain outside, content in the easy way good sex and a good breakfast had settled into his stomach and mind.

Until his senses were thrown into high alert at the sound of the back door opening quietly. Too quietly. Kid-trying-to-sneak-in quietly.

He raised his head up from the pillow of Catelyn’s hair, twisting his neck to focus on the sounds. He and Catelyn had often played this game when their children had started becoming teenagers – guessing whose steps were treading lightly in the halls, trying not to be heard past curfew. Catelyn usually won, especially in the last few years since his job promotion, when he'd become less attuned to the comings and goings of his children. But he pushed that thought aside and listened now in concentration, mapping out the steps of the child as he or she quietly passed by the door to the master bedroom, turning before the living room and heading upstairs.

 _Why is anyone here now?_ He thought. _And why are they sneaking around?_ Cat had said something about the kids beginning to return later this afternoon, but he figured it was just about noon or so. Maybe later. He really had no idea. But he’d imagined they’d have more time… _more time to do what, Stark? You’re gone so much, you should feel lucky to have this much time with just Catelyn,_ a sneaky voice within him whispered to him, but he shoved it away.

“Cat,” he whispered sharply, but she only nuzzled back into his arms, as if deep in sleep.

He listened more intently to the noises upstairs, determining the soft steps and opening of a drawer in the bathroom. The steps were coming back downstairs as he turned back to try and decide if he should truly force his wife to wake up when he heard the sharp intake of breath.

“Dad!” Sansa stopped so suddenly as she entered the living room and saw them snuggled up on the couch that her hair whipped around her face. Ned looked up at her, and for a moment, she could have been her mother - twenty years ago, fresh-faced, long hair, no worries and smiling at him. He propped himself up on an elbow behind Catelyn to smile at his daughter in greeting, but then nodded down to her mother. He couldn't quite place the emotion that crossed Sansa's face as she looked down at them, clutching what he knew was some kind of hair tool, but her expression looked something like relief.

Sansa dropped her voice to a stage whisper.

“You came home! Good? Mom happy?” she whispered, smiling cautiously at her father, an eyebrow raised in question.

He granted her a quick smile, nodding against Catelyn in his arms. He thought for certain his wife would have truly woken up and acknowledged Sansa during their exchange, but she still hung heavy in his arms.

“Told ya! You owe me! Happy Valentine's Day!” Sansa mouthed, giving an exaggerated thumbs-up.

He smiled and rolled his eyes at her, raising one hand gently to his lips to shush her.

She rolled her eyes playfully back at him before nodding. “Okay, okay,” she mouthed, backing up and heading towards the living room. “Magazines!” she whispered again over her shoulder as she tip-toed away.

“Oh, God,” he heard Catelyn whisper against his other hand, used as her pillow and pressed up against her lips.

“Cat?” he whispered.

“Shhhhh,” was all she said back, and he could feel her body tense against his as they both listened to Sansa rummage through the kitchen and living room.

“Why are you pretending-“ was as far as he got before Catelyn delivered a swift elbow to his ribs as Sansa came back towards the couch, a few magazines folded under her arm.

“I’ll be back later tonight or tomorrow,” she whispered to him. “I’ll text Mom, okay?” She didn’t wait for Ned to answer before she continued stepping quietly down the hall and out the back door.

As the door clicked shut once again, he felt Catelyn sigh and truly relax against him.

“Alright, then, explain,” he said.

“Yes, my love?”

“Why did you pretend to be asleep this whole time? I could tell you were awake, and this blanket isn’t very big. Are you covered down there? Glad at least _I_ have pants on.”

Even though she must have heard the frustration in his voice, she threw her head back against his shoulder and laughed, then turned to kiss his chin. “I’m sorry, honey, I was going to say hello, but then I thought she might leave more quickly I looked to be sleeping. Then you two were having a little moment." She grinned.

"Hmph," he grunted, brushing his beard up against her cheek and ear to tickle her on purpose.

She giggled as he knew she would before asking, "So . . . I have Sansa to thank for this weekend?"

"Well . . . she helped me remember it was Valentine's Day, and I was feeling bad about missing another recital, and missing things in general, really, especially you -- "

She shook her head and smiled at him again, twisting in his arms. "You don't really need to explain. It doesn't matter." She pressed her body meaningfully against his, trailing her fingers up his chest and smiling. "While I was pretending to sleep, I was also thanking God all we were doing was sleeping when she came in, while also praying she would make it through the kitchen without noticing various items of clothing I know we left there from last night.” Her hand cupped his cheek and brought him towards her for a slow kiss, smiling against his lips at the memory. "But I guess we're safe."

“The various cloth- oh,” he began as he pulled back slightly from the kiss. Then he leaned up suddenly to peer into the kitchen, aware of her meaning. “Oh, shit. Cat. Your bra is hanging from the chandelier again.”

“WHAT!?” Catelyn screeched, sitting up quickly on the couch, frantically looking to the dining room in search of the offending garment until she heard him laughing behind her.

He couldn’t help chuckling as he watched her spring up from practically comatose to fully alert in just a few seconds. For as suggestive and spontaneous as she could be in bed, his wife was as conservative and straightforward about sex as he was when it came to their children. “They need to know it’s a good thing and a healthy thing. They need to know about birth control, and to feel free to ask us any questions they like, but I’d rather not show them exactly what we’re doing in here,” he’d said and she’d laughed and agreed and helped him install the lock on their bedroom door after one too many interrupted nights when Rickon went through a phase of waking up a few hours after being put to bed and suddenly needing to tell his parents all about his dreams, with the family's rather large rescue mutt in tow.

“Relax, Cat. I’m joking,” he teased, pulling her hair back from her shoulder to kiss her lightly behind the ear. “I thought I noticed your heels and dress in a non-conspicuous pile on the floor, and I think I tore everything else off both you and me so quickly that it was thrown out of sight. However, your shirt is inside out. Actually, _my_ shirt is inside out.” he added, tapping her on the shoulder.

She sat up fully and turned to glare at him, keeping her eyes trained on his as she slowly and deliberately removed said shirt, flipped it, and replaced it on herself. He couldn’t help holding his breath through the whole procedure, letting it out in a low whistle when she was somewhat clothed once again.

“You think you’re _so_ funny, Ned Stark,” she said.

“Actually, you are the only person who has ever thought I was funny,” he mused.

She smiled a little at that. “Don’t be silly. The kids laugh at you all the time.”

“Ha. Yes. There is that.”

Catelyn stretched her arms over her head and drew herself up from the couch, shaking out her long hair. She smiled down at him as he reached out a hand to run up her thigh.

“She’ll text, she said?”

“Yes, Cat, and until then – “

“I should find my phone, actually. I have no idea what the kids are up to or when some of them will be home.”

He suppressed a groan, running his hand through his hair as he watched her thighs swish under the short hem of his shirt she wore as she headed back towards their bedroom in search of her phone. She was right – they needed to check in with the kids and see how everyone was. And he missed the children just as much as he imagined Catelyn did, even though it had only been a few days. He stretched back against the couch, rolling his neck around to hear the cracks and pops, feeling the pull in muscles all over his body as he turned over on the couch, waiting until she returned.

"I take that back. I know _exactly_ when some will be home," she announced upon reentering the living room.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Something about her tone of voice didn't sound too happy.

"I really should have been checking my phone!" she groaned.

"Cat - what is it?"

"Robb and Jon are on their way over. They were going to stay at your sister's after the tournament ended, but Robb says when they got there, there was a note and a twenty dollar bill, and Jon won't say anything about what's on the note..."

"Lyanna..." Ned sighed, drawing his hand over his face in frustration.

"So they should both stay here tonight. And Arya texted that since the rain won't stop for the second day, they're being bussed back home. I'm sure she's thrilled. This text probably took three drafts to write without swear words," she mused.

"I would not want to be on that bus with her right now. We can get a refund, right? Send her for a different weekend? She'd been looking forward to it so much."

Catelyn stopped scrolling through her phone to look up and smiled knowingly at him, placing a hand on her hip. "You know our daughter. She was probably only dragged out of some hiding spot in the stables with the promise she could return as soon as possible."

Ned snorted. "I bet some riding instructor was made to cross her heart and hope to die on that promise."

"Oh. Oh, dear. There's a few missed calls from the Reeds," she said, looking worriedly at her phone and then up at him.

"I'm sure everything's fine. Did they leave a voicemail?"

"Yes, several, but I'm just going to call them back without listening. Do you mind collecting the evidence in the kitchen while I get a hold of them? I think that's the least you could do to make up for distracting me from my phone for so long," she said, as he stood and walked over to her. He cupped her elbows in his hands and looked down at the worry on her face she was trying to hide with a weak smile.

He kissed her forehead and ran his hands down her arms. "I'm sure they're fine, Cat. It's probably raining where they are too, and they're just calling to let us know the boys are being washed out just like Arya. Don't worry just yet."

She nodded but still bit her lip. "Actually wait here with me while I call, okay?"

"Of course," he answered.

She shook her head after a few minutes. "I'm not getting through. I'll just listen to these voicemails." 

He leaned in to kiss her forehead. "Do you want me to try from my work phone? Maybe it's the same network or however these phones work."

She leaned back and smiled up at him, placing a hand on his chest. "Thank you, but let me just check the voicemails first, okay?"

He could hear the sounds of voices as she connected with her messages, and she looked up and nodded at him, biting her lip as she'd done thousands of times over their years together when worried or deep in thought. Her eyes went wide, but she pulled away from her phone and pressed a button to go to the next message and then again to one more before saying anything. He drew his head closer to her phone to try and listen, and thought he heard what sounded like Rickon laughing and shouting something.

She rolled her eyes as the voicemail ended. "You're damn right," she muttered before disconnecting the call.

"Well?" he asked, slightly nervous to hear what she had to say, based on her reaction, but also thinking it might not be as bad at whatever she had started imagining.

She sighed before looking up at him. "Well," she began in a frosty voice, "it would seem that despite all my warnings and threats, Bran spent the weekend climbing every damn tree in the forest, and found a particularly slippery one to fall out of this morning as he was climbing down. They're pretty sure he's only sprained his ankle, so they're headed back now, as our sons have informed them we have plenty of crutches lying around the house from previous injuries. They should be here any minute."

Ned whistled low, silently thanking God that a sprained ankle was all it was. "Shit. Should we take him to the ER?" he asked.

Catelyn shrugged. "They sounded pretty certain it was just a sprain . . .  plenty of nice scratches, too. Rickon was laughing about it, and Bran sounded more worried about my reaction than like a boy in tremendous pain."

Ned nodded. "The Reeds would know what to do, too. All that Boy Scout training has to be good for something, right? And with all our boys have seen of broken bones between Jon, Robb, and Arya, they probably know what to look out for if it's a break."

" _Or_ they are downplaying it to try and avoid a trip to the hospital and the wrath of their mother. I can't believe he fell out of a tree! How many times did I make him promise  _not_  to climb trees this weekend? Rickon was right - I'm going to kill that kid!"

"Hey now - remember how worried you were a few minutes ago? Now you want to kill him?" he smiled a crooked smile at her so she knew he was kidding.

"Yes, Ned. As you know, that is the fun emotional roller coaster called parenting," she added before arching a brow and poking a finger at his chest. "That kid will need that visit to the ER when I'm through with him, and then I'm going to ground him into Kingdom come," she said, but her voice had lost the angry edge to it, and she shook her head and sighed before walking back into his embrace. "It was hard enough to send them both off on a big trip without either of us to be there to make sure they were all alright, and knowing cell reception would be spotty, too. I am under no illusion that they were showering or brushing their teeth regularly, but . . . but what if the branch had been higher? Anything could have happened and I wasn't there - "

"Cat - I know no better mother in the world than you," he kissed the top of her head before continuing, "and I know you love our children and would protect our children from anything you could. But sometimes, even when they promise something to their mothers, whom they love dearly, boys will just be -"

She pulled back abruptly from his arms and glared at him. "Do not finish that sentence, Ned Stark." 

He paused, looking down at the fierceness in the eyes of his wife, suddenly remembering the way Brandon had explained away his bad behavior with a flippant line about the needs of men, and worse still, remembering Cersei Baratheon's pitiful excuses about the horrible way Joffrey had treated Sansa when they were barely teenagers discovering the opposite sex. He reached up to smooth her hair back. "What I want to say is that sometimes boys will be stupid. Our Bran loves to climb trees, to test the limits, and like most little boys, feels pretty invincible. He didn't mean to fall. BUT since you made him promise not to climb and he was definitely climbing . . . I hope his ankle hurts the whole car ride home and reminds him that he should have listened to his mother." 

She grinned, as he had hoped she would. It always made something bubble up in his chest when he could make her smile. "Yeah, well. I bet it does hurt. I think we have some of those nice ice packs in there from the last time Arya broke something . . . but will you please talk to Bran about climbing? Not today, when it's so fresh, but this week? He always promises me he won't, but then he does. I'm a broken record about it, but maybe he'll listen to his dad. I'm just so tired of being the bad cop all the time with the kids and telling them what they can't do."

 _There it is again_ , he thought. _She doesn't even mean to remind me of it, but I've been gone too much. I've been leaving her here alone way too much. She shouldn't have to do this alone._ His resolve to meet with Robert the next morning to discuss ways he could renegotiate his promotion to keep him closer to home more was strengthened as she snuggled in a little closer to his chest. _You're the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, Cat. You and the children. And I've been missing it. You deserve so much more._

"What's that?" she asked, looking up at him.

He started - realizing he must have been whispering his thoughts into her hair as he held her against him. "Nothing, Cat. Of course I'll talk to Bran."

"Thanks, babe." They swayed in each other's arms for a moment before she quietly spoke again. "Is it weird that now I'm realizing we'll be going very quickly from some lovely alone time to having Robb, Jon, Arya, Bran, and Rickon in the house within a few hours, not exactly under the ideal circumstances, of course, but now I'm wishing Sansa could come home, too? It would be the first time in who knows how long since we've all been together under one roof. I wouldn't want her to miss it."

"You're right, having all of us together for the night would be - "

The ringtone from Catelyn's phone interrupted his sentence. She reached for it on the couch where she'd thrown it and then looked up to him in surprise, laughing a little.

"Well, husband. It looks like we just might get our wish."


	26. Chapter 26

They heard the shouting before they’d even properly stopped the car in the drive, and then heard the slamming of the front door. Loras came running out into the front yard, sobbing and dropping to his knees as Margaery slammed the car into park, jumping quickly out the door to run and meet her brother in a fierce embrace upon the ground.

Sansa and Jeyne stayed in the car, watching in mute silence as brother and sister whispered and cried with each other on the lawn for a few minutes.

“Do you think we should - “ Jeyne ventured, her voice trembling.

“No,” Sansa whispered back. “We should stay here. Margaery will tell us what to do. It will be fine.” But even as she’d tried to reassure her friend, she’d pulled out her phone to text her mother.

  *  




“Are you alright?” she asked quietly, reaching for Margaery’s hand across the console. Margaery spared her a quick smile before turning back to the road.

“Of course, sweetheart.” She nodded in appreciation and then listed off her feelings. “Not surprised at the reaction. Worried sick about my dear brother. But maybe it’s to be expected.” She sniffed. "Maybe Gramma O will sort my parents out and all will be well,” she added, hopefully. “In any case, the only person who Loras should be with at the moment is Renly. And he’s got an hour or so drive to the university, so. Nothing I can do but wait for his text telling me he’s arrived.”

“And even then - “

“Well, he’ll be with his boyfriend, and Renly will take care of him, I suppose, until our parents calm down. Or whatever happens.”

“So, it’s really, really true, then?” Sansa asked quietly as Margaery pulled out of her home’s driveway and back onto the road.

Margaery quickly dropped her fingers from Sansa’s hand. “Of course it’s true, Sansa. Didn’t you know? Didn’t you have some idea? Is there a problem? All this time, I thought you understood or at least  -”

“But he asked me to that dance - “

“Because Renly had asked me, because he couldn’t ask Loras.”

“And that party -”

“The same, Sansa.”

“But he’s so good at sport and so handsome - “

“Do you think just because he’s interested in men he can’t be those things?” Margaery nearly shrieked, and Sansa stared at her, worried her emotions might cause her to lose control at the wheel. “God, Sansa, I didn’t think you were so -”

“No! No, I’m not! Please! I just . . . “ Sansa looked again at her dearest friend; the way her knuckles whitened around the steering wheel, the way her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She suddenly wished they hadn’t dropped Jeyne off at her father’s right after they’d left the Tyrell’s, without barely a word. She felt alone and confused and very unsure of what to say.

She took a deep breath and tried to continue, weighing her words. “I think I’m just worried for Loras, is all. And I’ve never really thought about all the rumors or suspicions or whatever. You’re my friends and I care about you. Of course it wouldn’t matter to me, whatever any one in your family felt, or people at school felt about anyone. I just love you. But sometimes people can be cruel. And so I’m worried for you, Marg. You’re my closest friend. My best friend.” She reached again for Margaery’s hand and pulled it to her lap. “I love you more than I can say, Marg. You’ve helped me through so much. And I love Loras, too.” She felt tiny tears slip through her eyes. “I’m sorry if I don’t know exactly what to say, but I do promise I’m here to listen to whatever you have to say, and to support you and stay by your side and love you in any way I can. All right?”

She looked at her friend and watched the slow smile grow across her face. “I love you, too, Sans.” Margaery smiled and then looked back to the road, but kept her hand in Sansa’s, tucked in her lap. “So. Back to your place, then?”

*     *     *     *     * 

“Do we need to pull her aside and talk about it?” Ned asked, trying to catch Catelyn in the middle of her pacing as she began to calculate the food they would need for the next 24 hours.

“No,” she offered quickly, shaking her head. “Sansa is much wiser than she lets on sometimes to her friends . . . maybe I will be able to catch a word with her later, but, honestly I’m not too worried about it.”

“Okay. And the other kids? Their thoughts?”

“We can deal with it later, Ned. I’m not too concerned. I think and I hope we’ve raised a family to be open-minded, and one that feels free to ask questions, and hopefully we’ll be able to answer them. If not, we can seek help. But tonight? Honestly? I don’t think it will come up, and I’m just excited at the last minute idea of having all our kids at home, with you, with a few stragglers,” she chuckled. “And truly, our biggest problem is feeding them all!”

“Pizza?” he offered.

She grimaced only slightly. “We just had it last night, but . . . you’re right, it’s the easiest choice for so many.”

He smiled at her expression. “Wait, honey - “ suddenly the door opened to reveal the muddied pair of Jon and Rob, as well as a scowling Arya.

“Boys! Arya! My darlings!!” Catelyn cried in happiness, and Ned watched his offspring pretended to not bask in the attention of their mother as she kissed and hugged them all in turn as they passed the threshold. _Teenagers_ , he thought, rolling his eyes.

“Dad!” Robb cried suddenly, at the same time Jon cried “Uncle Ned!” as they both spied him standing at the end of the room, and suddenly Ned found himself at the bottom of a talkative dogpile, his daughter’s toothy grin peeking at him from the top.

“You wised up and came home, Dad. Nice,” Arya whispered from her position on top of the pile. “And you guys smell terrible,” she added, picking herself up off the pile and helping her brother and cousin stand up.

“Straight to the showers with the three of you,” Catelyn directed, ignoring the collective protests as she helped her husband off the floor. “And then start your laundry!” she yelled up the stairs before turning back to her husband, still brushing himself off.

“You were saying, Ned?” she asked, as if they hadn’t been so violently interrupted.

He paused for a moment, looking at the kids go up the stairs and then eyeing her. “First,” he pulled her to him, kissing her soundly. She murmured surprise and then appreciation against him.

“And then?” she asked, teasing, as he broke away from her to look into her eyes

“Catelyn - I’ve got a million other ideas that start like that, as I’ve already promised. But right now, I am going to take care of the dinner thing, okay? I’ll be back in an hour or so. You stay here and handle hotel registration.” He looked down at her, marveling at how quickly she had changed her plans for the entire weekend, at how willing she was to host the children and their friends at the drop of a hat, at how good she was at being a wife and a mother.

She chuckled at his expression, patted his chest and then kissed him quickly. “Okay. Agreed. Help me with the clothing clean up really fast, okay? As in, our evidence removal - ” she smirked. “And then I’ll send you off with a head count.” She leaned into him again. “Thank you for taking care of dinner. I might even find some yoga pants to put on under this shirt of yours. Maybe an interesting something under this shirt, if you’re lucky.”

He smiled back at her as she leaned away before ducking around him towards their bedroom to cover up her legs. Their situation had changed drastically in the last thirty minutes, and at least four other children would arrive shortly, but she was still making him laugh. _How did I get so lucky?_ he wondered for the thousandth something time.

His keys were in his hands when he heard “Dad? Can I come with you?” and he nodded ‘yes’ before even thinking, not that it would have mattered. And then they were off.

 

 


End file.
